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r S'WU/^'S IITH. PHILt' . 



HISTORY 



OF 



JOSEPH BONAPARTE, 



KING OF NAPLES AND OF ITALY. 



By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT, 



AUTHOR OF 



"THE mSTORY OF NAPOLEON BONAPAKTE," "THE 

FRENCH Revolution," &c. 



NEW YORK: 
HARPER & brothers, PUBLISHERS, 

FR.VNKLIN SQUARE. 

I S 6 9. 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 

Haepee & Brothers, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 
the Southern District of New York. 

'" Boquest • 
Albert Adsit demons 
': Atig. 24, 1038 

(Not available for exchange) 



PREFACE. 



The writer trusts that be ma}^ be pardoned 
for relating tbe following cbaracteristic anec- 
dote of President Lincoln, as it so fully illus- 
trates tbe object in view in writing tbese bis- 
tories. In a conversation wbicb tbe writer bad 
witb tbe President just before bis deatb, Mr. 
Lincoln said: 

" I want to tbank 3^ou and your brotber for 
Abbotts' series of Histories. I bave not edu- 
cation enougb to appreciate tbe profound works 
of voluminous bistorians, and if I bad, I bave 
no time to read tbem. But your series of His- 
tories gives me, in brief compass, just tbat 
knowledge of past men and events wbicb I 
need. I bave read tbem witb tbe greatest in- 
terest. To tbem T am indebted for about all 
tbe bistorical knowledsje I bave." 

It is for just tbis purpose tbat tbese Histo- 
ries are written. Busy men, in tbis busy life, 
bave now no time to wade tbrougb ponderous 
folios. And yet evcr}^ one wisbcs to know tbe 



VI PREFACE. 



general character and achievements of the il- 
lustrious personages of past ages. 

A few years ago there was published in 
Paris a life of King Joseph, in ten royal oc- 
tavo volumes of nearly five hundred pages 
each. It was entitled " Memoir es et Correspond- 
ance^ Politique et Militaire^ du Boi Joseph^ Piiblies^ 
Annotes et Mis en Ordre par A. du Gasse^ Aide- 
de-camp de jS. a. I. Le Prince Jerome Napole- 
onP These volumes contained nearly all the 
correspondence which passed between Joseph 
and his brother ISTapoleon from their childhood 
until after the battle of Waterloo. Every his- 
toricah statement is substantiated by unequivo- 
cal documentary evidence. 

From this voluminous work, aided by other 
historical accounts of particular events, the au- 
thor of this sketch has gathered all that would 
be of particular interest to the general reader 
at the present time. As all the facts contained' 
in this narrative are substantiated by ample 
documentary proof, the writer can not doubt 
that this volume presents an accurate account 
of the momentous scenes which it describes, 
and that it gives the reader a correct idea of 
the social and political relations existing be- 
tween those extraordinary men, Joseph and 
Napoleon Bonaparte. It is not necessary that 



PREFACE. Vll 



the historian should pronounce judgment upon 
every transaction. But he is bound to state 
every'event exactly as it occurred. 

No one can read this account of the strug- 
gle in Europe in favor of 2:)opidar rights against 
the old dynasties o^ feudal oj^pression^ without 
more highly appreciating the admirable insti- 
tutions of our own glorious Hepublic. Neither 
can an}^ intelligent and candid man carefully 
peruse this narrative^ and not admit that Jo- 
seph Bonaparte was earnestly seeking the wel- 
fare of the^;eo/>?e; that, surrounded b}^ dynas- 
ties strong in standing armies, in pride of nobil- 
ity, and which were venerable through a life of 
centuries, he was endeavoring to promote, un- 
der monarchical forms, whicli the posture of af- 
fairs seemed to render necessary, the abolition 
o^ aristocratic usurpation^ and the establishment 
oi equal ^ rights for cdl men. Believing this, the 
writer sympathizes with him in all his strug- 
gles, and reveres his memory. The universal 
brotherhood of man, the fundamental principles 
of Christianity, should also be the fundamental 
principles in the State. Having spared no pains 
to be accurate, the writer will be grateful to any 
critic who will point out any incorrectness of 
statement or false coloring of fiicts, that he may 
make the correction in subsequent editions. 



Vlll PREFACE, 



This volume will soon be followed by an- 
other, " The History of Queen Hortense," the 
daughter of Josephine, the wife of King*Louis, 
the mother of Napoleon III. 

John S. C. Abbott. 



Fair Haven, Conn., 
May, 1869. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

I. SCENES rX EAULY LIFE liJ 

II. DIPLOMATIC LABORS 'iC 

III. JOSEPH THE PEACE-MAKER G7 

IV. JOSEPH KING OF NAPLES - 03 

V. THE CROWN A BURDEN 135 

YT. THE SP.\NISn PRINCES 166 

VII. JOSEPH KING OF SPAIN 199 

VIII. THE SPANISH CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON 229 

IX. THE WAR IN SPAIN CONTINUED 264 

X. THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN 291 

XI. LIFE IN EXn.E - 319 

XIT. LAST DAYS AND DEATH 365 



E I^ G R A V I N G S. 

Page 

JOSEPH ANT> NAPOLEON— TOUR IN CORSICA... 28 

JOSEPH GIVING HIS CLO.Ui TO HIS BROTHER LOUIS 41 

CORNWALLIS AND JOSEPH . 88 

JOSEPH AT MALMAISON 98 

JOSEPH ON HIS NEAPOLITAN TOUR 155 

QUEEN JULIE LEAVING NAPLES. 187 

JOSEPH RECEIVING THE ADDRESSES OF THE SPAN- 
ISH SENATE 198 

JOSEPH ENTERING MALAGA 2G1 

SACK OF CIUDAD RODRIGO , 286 

ANGUISH OF MARIA LOUISA 314 

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF REICHST.UJl 363 



JOSEPH BONAPARTE. 



CHAPTER I. 
Scenes in Early Life. 



Corsica. • Parentage. 

THE island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean 
Sea, sixty miles from the coast of Tuscany, 
is about half as large as the State of Massachu- 
setts. In the year 1767 this island was one of 
the provinces of Italy. There was then resid- 
ing, in the small town of Corte, in Corsica, a 
young lawyer nineteen years of age. He was 
the descendant of an illustrious race, which could 
be traced back, through a succession of distin- 
guished men, far into the dark ages. Charles 
Bonaparte, the young man of whom we speak, 
was tall, handsome, and possessed strong native 
powers of mind, which he had highly cultivated. 
In the same place there was a young lady, Le- 
titia Raniolini, remarkable for her beauty and 
her accomplishments. She also was of an an- 
cient faniily. When but sixteen years of age 



14 Joseph Bonaparte. [1768. 

Birth of Joseph Bonaparte Journey to France. 

Letitia was married to Charles Bonaparte, then 
but nineteen years old. 

About a year after their marriage, on the 7th 
of January, 1768, they welcomed- their first-born 
child, Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte. In nine- 
teen months after the birth of Joseph, his world- 
renowned brother Napoleon was born. But in 
the mean time the island had been transferred 
to France. Thus while Joseph was by birth 
an Italian, his brother Napoleoil was a French- 
man. 

Charles Bonaparte occupied high positions 
of trust aiid honor in the government of Corsica, 
and his family took rank with the most distin- 
guished families in Italy and in France. Joseph 
passed the first twelve years of his life upon his 
native island. He was ever a boy of studious 
habits, and of singular amiability of character. 
When he was twelve years of age his father 
took him, with Napoleon and their elder sister 
Eliza, to France for their education. Leopold, 
the grand duke of Tuscany, gave Charles Bona- 
parte letters of introduction to Maria Antoi- 
nette, his sister, who was. then the beautiful and 
admired Queen of France. 

Leaving Joseph at the college of Autun, in 
Burgundy, the father continued his journey to 



1780.] Scenes in Early Life. 15 

Fraternal Attachment. Character of Joseph. 

Paris, with Napoleon and Eliza. Eliza was 
placed in the celebrated boarding-school of St. 
Cjr, in the metropolis, and Napoleon was taken 
to the military school at Brienne, a few miles 
out from the city. The father was received as 
a guest in the gorgeous palace of Versailles. 
Joseph and Napoleon were very strongly at- 
tached to each other, and this attachment con- 
tinued unabated through life. When the two 
lads parted at Autun both were much affected. 
Joseph, subsequently speaking of it, says : 

" I shall never forget the moment of our sep- 
aration. My eyes were flooded with tears. Na- 
poleon shed but one tear, which he in vain en- 
deavored to conceal. The abbe Simon, who 
witnessed our adieus, said to me, after Napo- 
leon's departure, 'He shed only one tear; but 
that one testified to as deep grief in parting from 
you as all of yours.' " 

The two brothers kept up a very constant 
correspondence, informing each other minutely 
of their studies, and of the books in which they 
were interested. Joseph became one of the 
most distinguished scholars in the college of 
Autun, excelling in all the branches of polite 
literature. He was a very handsome young 
man, of polished manners, and of unblemished 



16. Joseph Bonaparte. [1782. 

Priuce of Conde. Anecdote. 

purity of life. His natural kindness of heart, 
combined with these attractions, rendered him 
a universal favorite. 

Autun was in the province of Burgundy, of 
which the Prince of Conde, grandfather of the 
celebrated Duke d'Enghien, was governor. The 
prince attended an exhibition at the college, to 
assist in the distribution of the prizes. Joseph 
acquitted himself with so much honor as to at- 
tract the attention of the prince, and he inquired 
of him what profession he intended to pursue. 

Joseph, in the following words, describes this 
eventful incident: 

" The solemn day arrived. I performed my 
part to admiration, and when we afterward went 
to receive the crown, which the prince himself 
placed on our heads, I was the one whom he 
seemed most to have noticed. The Bishop of 
Autun's friendship for our family, and no doubt 
also the curiosity which a little barbarian, re- 
cently introduced into the centre of civilization 
inspired, contributed to attract the prince's at- 
tention. He caressed me, complimented me on 
my progress, and made particular inquiries as 
to the intentions of my family with respect to 
me. The Bishop of Autun said that I was 
destined for the Church, and that he had a liv- 



1782.] Scenes in Early Life. 17 

.Vuecdote. Letter to Naj)ol(on. 

ing in reserve, which he would bestow upon mc 
as soon as the time came. 

" ' And you, my lad,' said the prince, ' have 
3'ou your own projects, and have you made up 
your mind as to what you wish ?' 

" ' I wish,' said I, ' to serve the king.' Then 
seeing him disposed to listen favorably to me, 
I took courage to tell him that it was not at all 
my wish, though it was that of my family, that 
I should enter the Church, but that my dearest 
wish was to enter the army. 

" The Bishop of Autun would have objected 
to my project, but the prince, wlio was colonel- 
general of the French infantry, saw with pleas- 
ure these warlike dispositions on my part, and 
encouraged me to ask for what I wanted. I 
then declared my desire to enter the artillery, 
and it was determined that I should. Imamne 
my joy. I was proud of the prince's caresses, 
and rejoiced more in his encouragement than I 
have since in the two crowns which I have 
worn. 

"I immediately wrote a long letter to my 
brother Napoleon, imparting my happiness to 
him, and relating in detail all that had passed ; 
concluding by begging him, out of friendship 
for me, to give up the navy and devote himself 

2 



18 Joseph Bonaparte. [1784. 

Return to Corsica. Death of his Fatheiv 

to the artillery, that we might be in the same 
regiment, and pursue our career side by side. 
Napoleon immediately acceded to my propo- 
sal, abandoned from that moment all his naval 
projects, and replied that his mind was made up 
to dedicate himself, with me, to the artillery — 
with what success the world has since learned. 
Thus it was to this visit of the Prince of Conde 
that Napoleon owed his resolution of entering 
on a career which paved the way to all his 
honors." 

In 1784, Joseph, then sixteen years of age, 
returned to Corsica. During his absence he 
had entirely forgotten the Italian, his native 
language, and could neither speak it nor under- 
stand it. After a few months at home, during 
which time he very diligently prosecuted his 
studies, his father, whose health was declining, 
found it necessary to visit Paris to seek medi- 
cal advice. He took his son Joseph with him. 
Arriving at Montpellier,* after a tempestuous 
voyage, he became so ill as to be unable to pro- 
ceed any farther. After a painful sickness of 
three months, he died of a cancer in the stom- 
ach, on the 24th of February, 1785. The dying 
father, who had perceived indications of the ex- 
alted powers and the lofty character of his son 



1785.] ScENP]s IN Early Life. 19 

l.ctitia. 1 lor Character. 

ISTapolcon, in the delirium of bis last hours re- 
peatedly cried out, 

'' ISTapoleon ! Napoleon ! come and rescue 
me from this dragon of death by whom I am 
devoured." 

Upon his dying bed the father felt great so- 
licitude for his wife, who was to be left, at the 
early age of thirty-five, a widow with eight 
children, six of whom were under thirteen years 
of age. Joseph willingly yielded to his father's 
earnest entreaties to relinquish the profession 
of arms and return to Corsica, that he might 
solace his bereaved mother and aid her in her 
arduous cares. Napoleon says of this noble 
mother : 

"She had the head of a man on the shoul- 
ders of a woman. Left without a guide or pro- 
tector, she was obliged to assume the manage- 
ment of affairs, but the burden did not over- 
come her. She administered every thing with 
a degree of sagacity not to be expected from her 
age or sex. Her tenderness was joined with 
severity. She punished, rewarded all alike. 
The good, the bad, nothing escaped her. Ah,, 
what a woman ! where shall we look for her 
equal ? She watched over us with a solicitude 
unexampled. Every low sentiment, every un- 



20 Joseph Bonaparte. [1785. 

Madame Peimon. Lucien. 

generous affection was discouraged and dis- 
carded. She suffered nothing but that which 
was grand and elevated to take root in our 
youthful understandings. She abhorred false- 
hood, and would not tolerate the slightest act 
of disobedience. None of our faults were over- 
looked. Losses, privations, fatigue had no ef- 
fect upon her. She endured all, braved all. 
She had the energy of a man combined with 
the gentleness and delicacy of a woman." 

Madame Permon, mother of the Duchess of 
Abrantes, a Corsican lady ol fortune who re- 
sided at Montpellier, immediately after the 
death of Charles Bonaparte, took Joseph, the 
orphan bo}^, into her house. Madame Permon 
and Letitia Raniolini had been companions 
and intimate friends in their youthful days. 
" She was to me," says Joseph, " an angel of 
consolation ; and she lavished upon me all the 
attentions I could have received from the most 
tender and affectionate of.mothers." 

Joseph soon returned to Corsica. Napoleon 
had just before been promoted to the military 
school in Paris, in which city Eliza still con- 
tinued at school. Lucien, the next younger 
brother, had also now been taken to the Con- 
tinent, where he was pursuing his educa- 



1786.J Scenes in Early Life. 21 

ll^bitti of Napoleon. "^Z Studies of the Bl^othcr^ ■. 

tion. The four remaining children were very 

young. 

" My mother," says Joseph, " moderated the 
expression of her grief that she might not ex- 
cite mine. Heroic and admirable woman ! the 
model of mothers ; how much thy children arc 
indebted to thee for the example which thou 
hast given them !" 

Joseph remained at home about a year, de- 
voting himself to the care of the family, when 
Napoleon obtained leave of absence, and, to the 
great joy of his mother, returned to Corsica. 
he brought with him two trunks, a small one 
containing his clothing, and a large one filled 
with his books. Seven years had now passed 
since the two affectiortate brothers had met. 
Napoleon had entirely forgotten the Italian 
language ; but, much chagrined by the loss, he 
immediately devoted himself with great energy 
to its recovery. " Ilis habits," says Joseph, 
" were those of a young man retiring and stu- 
dious." For nearly a year the two brothers 
prosecuted their studies vigorously together, 
while consoling, with their filial love, their re- 
vered mother. After some months Napoleon 
left home again, to rejoin his regiment at Va- 
lence. During this brief residence on his na- 



22 Joseph Bonaparte. [1787. 

Mirabeau. Joseph studies Law. 

tive island, with his accustomed habits of in- 
dustry, he employed the hours of vacation in 
writing a history of the revolutions in Corsica. 
At Marseilles he showed the manuscript to the 
abbe Eaynal. The abbe was so much pleased 
with it that he sent it to Mirabeau. This dis- 
tinguished man remarked that the essay indi- 
cated a genius of the first order. 

Joseph decided, being the eldest brother, to 
remain at home with his mother, to study law, 
and commence its practice in Ajaccio, where 
his mother then resided. He accordingly went 
to Pisa to attend lectures in the law school 
connected with the celebrated university in 
that place. His rank and character secured 
for him a distinguished reception, and 'he was 
presented by the French minister to the grand 
duke. Here Joseph became deeply interested 
in the lectures of Lampredi, who boldly advoca- 
ted the doctrine, then rarely heard in Europe, 
of the sovereignty of the people. There were 
many illustrious patriots at Pisa, and many 
ardent young men, whose minds were imbued 
with new ideas of political liberty. Freely and 
earnestly they discussed the themes o± aristo- 
cratic usurpation, and of the equal rights of all 
men. Joseph, with enthusiasm, embraced the 



17SS.] Scenes in Eakly Life. 23 



OomnJfences Practice. Treatise of Napolcou. 

cause of popular freedom, and became the un- 
relenting foe of that feudal despotism which 
then domineered over all Europe. His asso- 
ciates were the most illustiious and cultivated 
men of the liberal party. At that early period 
Joseph published a pamphlet advocating the 
rights of the people. 

Having finished his studies and taken his 
degree, Joseph returned to Corsica. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1788, being then twenty 
years of age, and commenced the practice of 
law in Ajaccio. Upon this his return to Cor- 
sica he met his brother Napoleon again, who, 
a few days before, had landed upon the island. 
ISTapoleon was then intensely occupied in writ- 
ing a treatise upon the question, " What arc 
the opinions and the feelings with which it is 
necessary to inspire men for the promotion of 
their happiness ?" 

" This was the subject of our conversations," 
says Joseph, "in our daily walks, which were 
prolonged upon the banks of the sea; in saun- 
tering along the shores of a gulf which was as 
beautiful as that of Naples, in a country fra- 
grant with the exhalations of myrtles and or- 
ang^es. We sometimes did not return home 
until night had closed over us. There will be 



24 Joseph Bonapaete. [1788. 

Testimony of Joseph. Ambition of Napoleon. 

found, in what remains of this essay, the opin- 
ions and the characteristic traits of Napoleon, 
who united in his character qualities which 
seemed to be contradictory — the calm of rea- 
son, illumined with the flashes of an Oriental 
imagination ; kindliness of soul, exquisite sensi- 
bility ; precious qualities which he subsequent- 
ly deemed it his duty to conceal, under an ar- 
tificial character which he studied to assume 
when he attained power, saying that men must 
be governed by one who is fair and just as 
law, and not by a jDrince whose amiability might 
be regarded as weakness, when that amiabili- 
ty is not controlled by the most inflexible jus- 
tice. 

"He had continually in view," continues 
Joseph, "the judgment of posterity. His heart 
throbbed at the idea of a grand and noble ac- 
tion which posterity could appreciate. 

" ' I would wish to be myself my posterity,' 
he said to me one da}^, ' that I may myself 
enjoy the sentiments which a great poet, like 
Corneille, would represent me as feeling and 
uttering. The sentiment of duty, the esteem 
of a small number of friends, who know us as 
we know ourselves, are not sufficient to in- 
spire noble and conscientious actions. With 



1789.] Scenes in Eakly Life. 25 

Forcsiglit of Napoleon. Coustitueiit A.-'-seinbly. 

such motives one can make sages, but not he- 
roes. If the movement now commenced con- 
tinue in France, she will draw upon herself 
the entire of Europe. She can. only be de- 
fended by men passionate for glory, who will 
be willing to die to-day, that they may live 
eternally. It is for an end remote, indetermi- 
nate, of which no definite account is taken, that 
the inspired minority triumphs over the inert 
masses. Those are the motives w.hicli have 
guided the legislators, who have influenced the 
destinies of the world.' " 

It is remarkable that at so early a period 
Kapoleon so clearly foresaw that the opinions 
of political equality, then struggling for exist- 
ence in Paris, and of which he subsequently 
became so illustrious an advocate, would, if 
successful, combine all the despots of Europe 
in a warfiire against regenerated France. eJo- 
seph and Napoleon both warmly espoused the 
cause of popular liberty, which was even then 
upheaving the throne of the Bourbons. 

At this time, June, 178U, the Constituent 
Assembly commenced its world-renowned ses- 
sion in Paris. As soon as the liberal constitu- 
tion, which it adopted, was issued, Joseph, who 
was then president of the district in Ajaccio, 



26 Joseph Bonaparte. [1789. 

Gratitude of Napoleon. Anecdote. 

published an elementary treatise upon tlie con- 
stitution both in French and Italian, for the 
benefit of the inhabitants of his native island. 
This work conferred upon him much honor, 
and greatly increased his influence. 

The mayor of the city, Jean Jerome Levie, 
was a very noble man, and a particular friend 
of the Bonapartes. Yery liberally he contrib- 
uted of his large fortune to aid the poor. " Na- 
poleon," says Joseph, " honored him at Saint 
Helena in his last hour, and left him a hundred 
thousand francs. This proves the truth of 
what I have often said of the kindness and 
tenderness of Napoleon's heart. It was this 
which led him in his last moments to remem- 
ber the abbe Recco, Professor of the Royal Col- 
lege of Ajaccio, who in our early childhood, 
before our departure for the Continent, kindly 
admitted us to his class, and devoted' to us his 
attention. I recall the incident when the pupils 
were arranged facing each other upon the op- 
posite sides of the hall under an immense ban- 
ner, one portion pf which represented the flag 
of Rome, and the other that of Carthage. As 
the elder of* the two children, the professor 
placed me by his side under the Roman flag. 

" NapoleoD, annoyed at finding himself be- 




JOSEPH AjND ImaPOLEuin — TOUR IN COKSICA. 



1790.] Scenes in Early Life. 29 

Tour in (Joraica. CharactcristicF. 

neatli the flag of Carthage, which was not the 
conquering banner, could have no rest until he 
obtained a change of place with me, which I 
readily granted, and for which he was very 
grateful. And still, in his triumph, he was 
disquieted with the idea of having been unjust 
to his brother, and it required all the authority 
of our mother to tranquilize him. This abbe 
Rccco was also remembered in his will." 

On one occasion Napoleon accompanied Jo- 
seph on horseback to a remote part of the isl- 
arid, to attend a Convention, where Joseph was 
to address the assembly. 

" Napoleon was continually occupied," says 
Joseph, " in collecting heroic incidents of the 
ancient warriors of the country. I read to him 
my speech, to which he added several names 
of the ancient patriots. During the journey, 
which we made quite slowly, without a change 
of horses, his mind was incessantly employed 
in studying the positions which the troops of 
different nations had occupied, during the many 
years in which they had combattcd against the 
inhabitants of the island. "My thoughts ran in 
another direction. The singular beauty of the 
scenery interested me much more." 

Louis Napoleon, in an article which he wrote 



30 Joseph Bonaparte. [1791. 

Testimony of Louis Napoleon. Death of Mirabeaii. 

■while a prisoner at Ham, upon his uncle, King 
Joseph, just after his death, says : 

"Joseph was born to embellish the arts of 
peace, while the spirit of his brother found it- 
self at ease only amid events which war intro- 
duces. From their earliest years this difference 
of capacity and of inclination was clearly mani- 
fested. Associated in the college at Autun 
with his brother, Joseph aided Napoleon in his 
Latin and Greek compositions, while Napole> 
on aided Joseph in all the problems of physics 
and mathematics. The one made verses, while 
the other studied Alexander and Caesar."^ 

During the meeting of the Convention at 
Bastia, above alluded to, the tidings came of 
the death of Mirabeau. By the request of the 
President, Joseph Bonaparte announced the 
event to the Convention in an appropriate eu- 
logy. The two brothers had but just returned 
to Ajaccio when the grand-uncle of the Bona- 
parte children died. He had been a firm friend 
of the family, and was greatly revered by them 
all. A few moments before his death he as- 
sembled them around his dying bed, and took 
an affectionate leave of each one. Joseph was 

* Qnelques Mot snr Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte ; Oeuvres 
de Napoleon III., tome ii. p. 452. 



1792.] Scp:nes in Early Life. 31 

French Revolution. Anecilute. 

now a member of the Directory of the depart- 
ment. We have the testimony of Joseph that 
the dying uncle said to his sobbing niece, 

" Letitia, do not weep. I am willing to die 
since I see you suiTOunded by your children. 
My life is no longer necessary to protect the 
family of Charles. Joseph is at the head of 
the administration of the country ; he can 
therefore take care of the interests of the fam- 
ily. You, Napoleon, you will be a great man." 

The French Revolution was now in full ca- 
reer. Napoleon returned to Paris, and witness- 
ed the awful scenes of the 10th of August, 
1792, when the palace of the Tuileries was 
stormed, the royal family outraged, and the 
guard massacred. He wrote to Joseph, 

'' If the king had shown himself on horse- 
back at the head of his troops, he would have 
gained the victory ; at least so it appeared to 
me, from the spirit which that morning seemed 
to animate the groups of the people. 

" After the victory of the Marseillaise, I saw 
one of them upon the point of killing one of 
the body-guard ; ' Man of the South,' said I, 
' let us save the poor fellow.' ' Arc you from 
the South ?' said he. ' Yes,' I replied. 'Very 
well,' he rejoined, * let him be saved then.' " 



32 Joseph Bonaparte. [1792. 

Tlie Emigrants. The Repnblicaus. 

The French monarchy was destroyed. 
France, delivered from the despotism of kings, 
was surrendered to the still greater despotism of 
irreligion and ignorance. Faction succeeded 
faction in ephemeral governments, and anar- 
chy and terror rioted throughout the kingdom. 
Thousands of the nobles fled from France and 
joined the armies of the surrounding monar- 
chies, which were on the march to replace the 
Bourbons on the throne. The true patriots of 
the nation, anxious for the overthrow of the in- 
tolerable despotism under which France had so 
long groaned, were struggling against the coa- 
lition of despots from abroad, while at the 
same time they were perilling their lives in the 
endeavor to resist the blind madness of the mob 
at home. With these two foes, equally formi- 
dable, pressing them from opposite quarters, 
they were making gigantic endeavors to estab- 
lish republican institutions upon the basis of 
those then in successful operation in the Unit- 
ed States. Joseph and his brother Napoleon 
with all zeal joined the Republican party. The}^ 
were irreconcilably hostile to despotism on the 
one hand, and to Jacobinical anarchy upon the 
other. In devotion to the princiioles of repub- 
lican liberty, they sacrificed their fortunes, and 



1793.] Scenes in Early Life. 33 

Paoli. His Appreciation of Napoleon. 

placed their lives in imminent jeopardy. Anx- 
ious as they both were to see the bulwarks of 
the old feudal aristocracy battered down, they 
were still more hostile to the domination of the 
mob. 

" I frankly declare," said Napoleon, " that if 
I were compelled to choose between the old 
monarchy and Jacobin misrule, I should infi- 
nitely prefer the former." 

General Paoli had been appoined by Louis 
XVL lieutenant-general of Corsica. This il- 
lustrious man, disgusted with the lawless vio- 
olence which was now dominant in Paris, and 
despairing of any salutary reform from the 
revolutionary influences which were running 
riot, through an error in judgment, which he 
afterward bitterly deplored, joined the coalition 
of foreign powers who, with fleets and armies, 
were approaching France to replace, by the 
bayonet, the rejected Bourbons upon the throne. 
Both Joseph and Napoleon were exceedingly 
attached to General Paoli. He was a family 
friend, and his lofty character had won their rev- 
erence. Paoli discerned the dawning greatness 
of Napoleon even in these early years, and on 
one occasion said to him, 

"O Napoleon! you do not at all resemble 
3 



34 Joseph Bonaparte. [1793. 

Corsican Peasantry. Flight of the Bonapartes. 

the moderns. You belong only to the heroes 
of Plutarch." 

Paoli made every effort to induce the young 
Bonapartes to join his standard; but 'they, be- 
lieving that popular rights would yet come out 
triumphant, resolutely refused. The peasantry 
of Corsica, unenlightened, and confiding in Gen- 
eral Paoli, to whom they were enthusiastically 
attached, eagerly rallied around his banner. 
England was the soul of the coalition now form- 
ed against popular rights in France. Paoli, in 
loyalty to the Bourbons, and in treason to the 
French people, surrendered the island of Cor- 
sica to the British fleet. 

The Bonaparte family, in wealth, rank, and 
influence, was one of the most prominent upon 
the island. An exasperated mob surrounded 
their dwelling, and the family narrowly escaped 
with their lives. The house and furniture were 
almost entirely destroyed. At midnight Ma- 
dame Bonaparte, with Joseph, Napoleon, and all 
the other children who were then upon the isl- 
and, secretly entered a boat in a retired cove, 
and were rowed out to a small vessel which was 
anchored at a short distance from the shore. 
The sails were spread, and the exiled family, 
in friendlessness, poverty, and dejection, were 



I 



1793.] Scenes in Early Life. 35 

Their Arrival in France. 

landed upon the shores of France. Little did 
they then dream that their renown was soon to 
fill the world ; and that each one of those chil- 
dren wa^ to rise to grandeur, and experience re- 
verses which will never cease to excite the sym- 
pathies of mankind. 



36 Joseph Bonaparte. [1793. 

The Allies. The National Assembly. 



CHAPTER II. 

Diplomatic Labors. 

IT was the year 1793. On the 21st of Janu- 
ary the unfortunate and guilty Louis XYI. 
had been led to the guillotine. Th% Royalists 
had surrendered Toulon to the British fleet. A 
Republican army was sent to regain the impor- 
tant port. Joseph Bonaparte was commissioned 
on the staff of the major-general in command, 
and was slightly wounded in the attack upon 
Cape Brun. All France was in a state of terri- 
ble excitement. Allied Europe was on the 
march to crush the revolution. The armies of 
Austria, gathered in Italy, were threatening to 
cross the Alps. The nobles in France, and all 
who were in favor of aristocratic domination, 
were watching for an opportunity to join the 
Allies, overwhelm the revolutionists, and re- 
place the Bourbon family on the throne. 

The National Assembly, which had assumed 
the supreme command upon the dethronement 
of the king, was now giving place to another 
assembly gathered in Paris, called the National 



179-4.] Diplomatic Labors. 37 

Commission of Napoleon. Marriage of Josepli. 

Convention. Napoleon was commissioned to 
obtain artillery and supplies for the troops com- 
posing the Army of Italy, who, few in numbers, 
quite undisciplined and feeble in the materials 
of war, were guarding the defiles of the Alps, 
to protect France from the threatened Austrian 
invasion in that quarter. He was soon after 
named general of brigade in the artillery, and 
was sent to aid the besieging army at Toulon. 
Madame Bonaparte and the 3^ounger children 
were at Marseilles, where Joseph and Napoleon, 
the natural guardians of the family, could more 
frequently visit them. On the last day of No- 
vember of this year the British fleet was driven 
fi'om the harbor of Toulon, and the city recap- 
tured, as was universally admitted, by the gen- 
ius of Napoleon. 

In the year 1794 Joseph married Julie Cla- 
ry, daughter of one of the wealthiest capitalists 
of Marseilles. Her sister Eugenie, to whom Na- 
poleon was at that time much attached, after- 
ward married Bernadotte, subsequently King 
of Sweden. Of Julie Clary the Duchess of 
Abrantes says: 

" Madame Joseph Bonaparte is an angel of 
goodness. Pronounce her name, and all the in- 
digent, all the unfortunate in Paris, Naples, and 



88 Joseph Bonaparte. [1795. 

Madame Bonaparte. Letter from Napoleon. 

Madrid, will repeat it with blessings. Never 
did slie hesitate a moment to set about what 
she conceived to be her duty. Accordingly 
she is adored by all about her, and especially 
by her own household. Her unalterable kind- 
ness, her active charity, gain her the love of 
every body." 

The brothers kept up a very constant cor- 
respondence. These letters have been pub- 
lished unaltered. They attest the exalted and 
affectionate character of both the young men. 
Napoleon writes to Joseph on the 25th of June, 
1795: 

"In whatever circumstances fortune may 
place you, you well know, my dear friend, that 
you can never have a better friend, one to 
whom you will be more dear, and who desires 
more sincerely your happiness. Life is but 
a transient dream, which is soon dissipated. 
If you go away, to be absent any length of 
time, send me your portrait. We have lived 
so much together, so closely "united, that our 
hearts are blended. I feel, in tracing these 
lines, emotions which I have seldom experi- 
enced ; I feel that it will be a long time before 
we shall meet again, and I can not continue 
my letter." 



H 



1795.] DiTLOMATic Labors. 39 

Letter from Napoleon. , Louid IJonaparte. 

Again Napoleon writes on the 12tli of Au- 
gust: " As for me, but little attached to life, I 
contemplate it without much anxiety, finding 
myself constantly in the mood of mind in which 
one finds himself on the eve of battle, convinced 
that when death comes in the midst, to termi- 
nate all things, it is folly to indulge in solici- 
tude." 

In these letters we see gradually developed 
the supremacy of the mind of Napoleon, and 
that soon, almost instinctively, he is recognized 
as the head of the family. On the 6th of Sep- 
tember he writes from Paris : 

''I am very well pleased with Louis.' He 
responds to my hopes, and to the expectations 
which I had formed for him. He is a fine fel- 
low ; ardor, vivacity, health, talent, exactness 
in business, kindness, he unites every thing. 
You know, my friend, that I live for the bene- 
fits which I can confer upon my family. If 
my hopes are favored by that good-fortune 
which has never abandoned my enterprises, I 
shall be able to render you happy, and to ful- 
fill your desires. I feel -keenly the absence of 
Louis. He was of great service to me. Nev- 
er was a man more active, more skillful, more 

' Napoleon's youiiRcr brother, fatlier of Napoleon III. 



40 Joseph Bonaparte. [1795. 

Louis Napoleon. Anecdote. 

winning. He could do at Paris whatever he 
wished." 

None of the members of the Bonaparte 
family were ever ashamed to remind them- 
selves of the days of their comparative pover- 
ty and obscurity. "One day," writes Louis 
Napoleon, now Napoleon III., "Joseph related 
that his brother Louis, for whom he had felt, 
from his infancy, all the cares and tenderness 
of a father, was about to leave Marseilles to go 
to school in Paris. Joseph accompanied him 
to the diligence. Just before the diligence 
started he perceived that it was quite cold, and 
that Louis had no overcoat. Not having then 
the means to purchase him one, and not wish- 
ing to expose his brother to the severity of the 
weather, he took off his own cloak and wrapped 
it around Louis. This action, which they mu- 
tually recalled when they were kings, had al- 
ways remained engraved in the hearts of them 
both, as a tender souvenir of their constant in- 
timacy."^ 

On the 6th of March, 1796, Napoleon was 
married to Josephine Beauharnais. "Thus van- 
ished," writes Joseph Bonaparte, " the hope 
which my wife and I had cherished, for sev- 

^ Oeuvres de Napoleon III., tome deuxieme, p. 451. 



1796.] Diplomatic Labors. 43 

Marriage of Napoleon. Caruot. 

eral years, of seeing her younger sister Eugenie 
united in marriage with my brother Napoleon. 
Time and separation disposed of the event oth- 
erwise." 

A few days after Napoleon's marriage he 
took command of the Army of Italy, and has- 
tened across the Alps to the scene of conflict. 
After the victory of Mondovi, Napoleon, cher- 
ishing the hope of detaching the Italians from 
the Austrians, sent Joseph to Paris to urge 
upon the Directory the importance of making 
peace with the Court of Turin. General Junot 
accompanied Joseph, to present to the Directo- 
ry the flags captured from the enemy. The as- 
tonishing victories which Napoleon had gained 
excited boundless enthusiasm in Paris. Car- 
not, one of the Directors, gave a brilliant en- 
tertainment in honor of the two ambassadors, 
Joseph and Junot. During the dinner he 
opened his waistcoat and showed the portrait 
of Napoleon, which was suspended near his 
heart. Turning to Joseph, he said, 

" Say to your brother that I wear his minia- 
ture there, because I foresee that he will be the 
saviour of France. To accomplish this, it is 
necessary that he should know that there is no 
one in the Directory who is not his admirer 
and his friend." 



I 



44 Joseph Bonapaete. [1796. 

Joseph an Ambassador. Reconquest of Corsica. 

The measures which Napoleon had suggest- 
ed were most cordially approved by all the 
members of the Government One of the most 
important members of the Cabinet proposed 
that Joseph Bonaparte should immediately, 
upon the ratification of peace, be appointed 
ambassador of the French Eepublic to the 
Court of Turin. Joseph, with characteristic 
modesty, replied, that though he was desirou-s 
of entering upon a diplomatic career, he did not 
feel qualified to assume at once so important 
a post. He was however prevailed upon to 
enter upon the office. 

From this mission, so successfully accom- 
plished, Joseph, returned to his brother, and 
joined him at his head - quarters in Milan. 
Napoleon pressed forward in his triumphant 
career, drove the Austrians out of Italy, and 
soon effected peace with Naples and with 
Kome. 

Having accomplished these results, Napole- 
on immediately fitted out an expedition for the 
reconquest of Corsica, his native island, which 
t'he British fleet still held. The expedition 
was placed under the command of General 
Gentili. The troops sailed from Leghorn, and 
disembarked at Bastia. Joseph accompanied 



1796.] Diplomatic Labors. 45 

Keception iu Corsica. T{etuin to the Continent. 

tliem. Immediately upon landing, the Corsi- 
cans generally rose and joined their deliverers, 
and the English retired in haste from the isl- 
and. Joseph gives the following account of 
his return to his parental home : 

" I was received by the great majority of 
the population at the distance of a league from 
Ajaccio. I took up my residence in the man- 
sion of Ornano, where I resided for several 
weeks, until our parental homestead, which 
had been devastated, was sufficiently repaired 
to be occupied. I could not detect the slight- 
est trace of any unfriendly feelings toward our 
family. All the inhabitants, without any ex- 
ception, hastened to greet me. In my turn, I 
reorganized the government without consult- 
ing any other voice than the public good. A 
commissioner from the Directory soon arrived, 
and he sanctioned, without any exception, all 
the measures which I had adopted. 

''Having thus fulfilled, according to my 
best judgment, the mission w^hich fraternal 
kindness had intrusted to me, and leaving our 
native island tranquil and happy in finding it- 
self again restored to the laws of France, I pre- 
pared to return to the Continent, having made 
a sojourn in Corsica of three months." 



46 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 

Joseph at Parma. The Duke and Duchess. 

On the 27th of March, 1797, Joseph was 
appointed ambassador to the Court of Parma. 
He presented to the duke credentials from the 
Directory of the French Kepubhc, containing 
the following sentiments : 

''The desire which we have to maintain 
and to cherish the friendship and the kind re- 
lations happily established between the French 
Republic and the Duchy of Parma, has induced 
us to appoint Citizen Bonaparte to reside at the 
Court of your Eoyal Highness in quality of 
ambassador. The knowledge which we have 
of his principles and his sentiments is to us a 
sure guarantee that the choice which we have 
made of his person to fulfill that honorable 
mission will be agreeable to you, and we are 
well persuaded that he will do every thing in 
his power to justify the confidence we have 
placed in him. It is in that persuasion that we 
pray your Eoyal Highness to repose entire 
faith in every thing which he may say in our 
behalf, and particularly whenever he may re- 
new the assurance of the friendship with which 
we cherish your Royal Highness." 

The Duke of Parma had married an Aus- 
trian duchess, sister of Maria Antoinette. She 
was an energetic woman, and in conjunction 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 47 

Anecdote. Kliza IJoimparte. 

with the ecclesiastics, who crowded the palace, 
had great control over her husband. But the 
spirit of the French Kevolution already per- 
vaded many minds in Parma. Not a few were 
restive under the old feudal domination of the 
duke and the arrosrance of the Church. One 

o 

day Joseph was walking through the gardens 
of the ducal palace with several of the digni- 
taries of the Court. He spoke with admiration 
of the architectural grandeur and sj- mmetry of 
the res^al mansion. 

"That is true," one replied, "but turn your 
eyes to the neighboring convent ; how far does 
it surpass in magnificence the palace of the 
sovereign ! Unhappy is that country where 
things are so." 

After the peace of Leoben Napoleon return- 
ed to Milan and established himself, for several 
months, at the chateau of Montebello. Joseph 
soon joined his brother there. In the mean 
time their eldest sister, Eliza, had been mar- 
ried to M. Bacciochi, a young officer of great 
distinction. He was afterward created a prince 
by Napoleon. He was a man of elegant man- 
ners, and had attained no little distinction in 
literary and artistic accomplishments. 

"We have often been amused," say the au- 



48 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 

" Napoleoa Dynasty." Pauline Bonaparte. 

thors of the " JSTapoleon Dynasty," " to see Brit- 
ish writers, some of whom doubtless never 
passed beyond the Channel, speak deprecia- 
tingly of the manners and refinement of these 
new-made princes and nobles of Napoleon's 
Empire. Those who are familiar with the ele- 
gant manners of the refined Italians read such 
slurs with a smile. Whatever may be the 
crimes of the Italians, they have never been 
accused, by those who know them, of coarse- 
ness of manner, or lack of refinement of mind 
and taste. Eliza is said to have possessed 
more of her brother's genius than any other 
one of the sisters. Chateaubriand, La Harpe, 
Fontanes, and many other of the most illustri- 
ous men of France sought her society, and have 
expressed their admiration of her talents." 

At Montebello the second sister, Pauline, 
was married to Greneral Leclerc. Pauline was 
pronounced by Canova to be the most peerless 
model of grace and beauty in all Europe. The 
same envenomed pen of slander which has 
dared to calumniate even the immaculate Jo- 
sephine has also been busy in traducing the 
character of Pauline. We here again quote 
from the "JSTapoleon Dynasty," by the Berke- 
ley men : 



H 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 49 



Undeserved Reproach. The Slandered defended. 

" No satisftictory evidence has ever been 
adduced, in any quarter, that Pauline was not 
a virtuous woman. Those who were mainly 
instrumental in originating and circulating 
these slanders at the time about her, were the 
very persons who had endeavored to load the 
name of Josephine with obloquy. Those who 
saw her could not withhold their admiration. 
But the blood of Madame M^re was in her 
veins, and the Bonapartes, especially the wom- 
en of the family, have always been too proud 
and haughty to degrade themselves. Even 
had they lacked what is technically called 
moral character, their virtue has been intrench- 
ed behind their ancestry, and the achievements 
of their own family; nor was there at any time 
an instant when any one of the Bonapartes 
could have overstepped, by a hair's breadth, 
the bounds of decency without being exposed. 
None of them pursued the noiseless tenor of 
their way along the vale of obscurity. They 
were walking in the clear sunshine, on the 
topmost summits of the earth, and millions of 
enemies were watching every step they took. 

" The highest genius of historians, the bitter- 
est satire of dramatists, the meanest and most 
malignant pens of the journalists have assailed 

4 



i 

9^1 



50 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797 

Joseph at Rome. The Allies. 

them for more than half a century. We have 
written these words because a Eepublican is 
the only one likely to speak well even of the 
good things of the Bonaparte family. It was, 
and is, and will be, the dynasty of the people 
standing there from 1804 a fearful antagonism 
against the feudal age, and its souvenirs of 
oppression and crime„" 

On the 7th of May, 1797, Joseph was pro- 
moted to the post of minister from the French 
Republic to the Court at Rome. He received 
instructions from his Government to make 
every effort to maintain friendly relations with 
that spiritual power, which exerted so vast an 
influence over the masses of Europe. Pope 
Pius YI. gave him a very cordial reception, 
and seemed well disposed to employ all his 
means of persuasion and authority to induce 
the Yendeans in France to accept the French 
Republic. The Yendeans, enthusiastic Cath- 
olics, and devoted to the Bourbons, were still, 
with amazing energy, perpetuating civil war 
in France. The Allies, ready to make use of 
any instrumentality whatever to crush repub- 
licanism, were doing every thing in their pow- 
er to encourage the Yendeans in their rebellion. 
The Austrian ambassador at the Papal Court 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 51 

The Pope. General I'loveni. 

was unwearied in bis endeavors to circumvent 
the peaceful mission of Joseph. 

Though the Pope himself and his Secretary 
of State were inclined to amicable relations 
with the French Government, his Cabinet, the 
Sacred College, composed exclusively of eccle- 
skistics, was intent upon the restoratk>n of the 
Bourbons, by which restoration alone the Cath- 
olic religion could be reinstated with exclusive 
power in France. 

By the intrigues of Austria, General Pro- 
vera, an Austrian officer^ was placed in com- 
mand of all the Papal forces. Joseph imme- 
diately communicated this fact to the Directo- 
ry in Paris, and also to his brother. This Aus- 
trian officer had been fighting against the 
French in Italy, and had three times been tak- 
en prisoner by the French troops. 

Napoleon, who had lost all confidence in the 
French Directory, and who, by virtue of his 
victories, had assumed the control of Italian 
diplomacy, immediately wrote as follows to Jo- 
seph : 

"Milan, Dec. 14, 1797. 
" I shared your indignation, citizen ambas- 
sador, when you informed me of the arrival of 
General Provera. You may declare positively 



52 Joseph Bonapaete. [1797. 

Letter from Napoleon. Republicans in Eome. 

to the Court of Rome that if it receive into 
its service any officer known to have been in 
the service of the Emperor of Austria, all good 
understanding between France and Rome will 
cease from that hour, and war will be already 
declared. 

" You^will let it be known, by a special note 
to the Pope, which you will address to him in 
person, that although peace may be made with 
his majesty the Emperor, the French Republic 
will not consent that the Pope should accept 
among his troops any officer or agent belong- 
ing to the Emperor of any denomination, ex- 
cept the usual diplomatic agents. You will re- 
quire the departure of M. Provera from the 
Roman territory within twenty-four hours, in 
default whereof you will declare that you. quit 
Rome." 

The spirit of the French Revolution at this 
time pervaded to a greater or less degree all 
the kingdoms of Europe. In Rome there was 
a very active party of Republicans anxious for 
a change of government. Napoleon did not 
wish to encourage this party in an insurrection. 
By so doing, he would exasperate still more 
the monarchs of Europe, who were already 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 63 

Policy of Joseph. Intrigues of the Allies. 

combined in deadly hostility against republic- 
an France ; neither did he think the Eepub- 
lican party in Rome sufficiently strong to main- 
tain their cause, or the people sufficiently en- 
lightened for self-government. Thus he was 
not at all disposed to favor any insurrectionary 
movements in Rome ; neither was he disposed 
to render any aid whatever to the Papal Gov- 
ernment in opposing those who were struggling 
for greater political liberty. He only demand- 
ed that France should be left by the other gov- 
ernments in Europe in entire liberty to choose 
her own institutions. And he did not wish 
that France should interfere, in any way what- 
ever, with the internal affiairs of other nations. 
While Joseph was officiating as ambassador 
at Rome, endeavoring to promote friendly re- 
lations between the Papal See and the new 
French Republic, he was much embarrassed by 
the operations of two opposite and hostile par- 
ties of intriguants at that court. The Aus- 
trians, and all the other European cabinets, 
were endeavoring to influence the Pope to give 
his powerful moral support against the French 
Revolution. On the other hand there was a 
})arty of active revolutionists, both native and 
foreign, in Rome, struggling to rouse the popu- 



54 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. || 

The revolutionaiy Spirit. Anecdote. 

lace to an insurrection against the Grovernment, 
to overthrow the Papal power entirely, as .4 
France had overthrown the Bourbon power, 
and to establish a republic. These men hoped 
for the countenance and, support of France. 
But Joseph Bonaparte could lend them no 
countenance. He was received as a friendly 
ambassador at that court, and could not with- 
out ignominy take part with conspirators to 
overthrow the Government. He was also 
bound to w^atch with the utmost care, and . 
thwart, if possible, the efforts of the Austrians, 
and other advocates of the old regime. 

Ori the 27th of December three members of 
the revolutionary party called upon Joseph 
and informed him that during the night a rev- 
olution was to break out, and they wished to 
communicate the fact to him, that he might not 
be taken by surprise. Joseph reproved them, 
stating that he did not think it right for him, 
an ambassador at the Court of Eome, to listen 
to such a communication ; and moreover he 
assured them that the movement was ill-timed, 
and that it could not prove successful. 

They replied that they came to him for ad- 
vice, for they hoped that republican France 
would protect them in their revolution as soon 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 66 

Joseph in Rome. The Revolutionists. 

as it was accomplished. Joseph informed them 
that, as an impartial spectator, he should give 
an account to his Government of whatever 
scenes might occur, but that he could give them 
no encouragement whatever ; that France was 
anxious to promote a general peace on the Con- 
tinent, and would look with regret upon any 
occurrences which might retard that peace. 
He also repeated his assurance that the revo- 
lutionary party in Eome had by no means suf- 
ficient strength to attain their end, and he en- 
treated them to desist from their purpose. 

The committee were evidently impressed by 
his representations. They departed declaring 
that every thing should remain quiet for the 
present, and the night passed away in tranquil- 
lity. On the evening of the next day one of 
the Government party called, and confidential- 
ly informed Joseph that the hlunderlieads were 
ridiculously contemplating a movement whioli 
would only involve them in ruin. The Papal 
Government, by means of spies, was not only 
informed of all the movements contemplated, 
but through these spies, as pretended revolu- 
tionists, the Government was actually aiding 
in getting up the insurrection, which it would 
promptly crush with a bloody hand. 



56 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797 

Conflict with the dragoons. Prudence of Joseph, 

At 4 o'clock the next morning Joseph was I 
aroused from sleep by a messenger who in- 
formed him that about a hundred of the rev- 
olutionists had assembled at the villa Medici, 
where they were surrounded by the troops of 
the Pope. Joseph, who had given the revolu- 
tionists good advice in vain, turned upon his 
pillow and fell asleep again. In the morning 
he learned that there had been a slight con- 
flict, that two of the Pope's dragoons had been 
killed, and that the insurgents had been put to 
flight; several of them having been arrested. 
These insurgents had assumed the French na- 
tional cockade, implying that they were acting, 
in some degree of co-operation, with revolu- 
tionary France. 

Joseph immediately called upon the Secreta- 
ry of State, and informed him that far from 
complaining of the arrest of persons who had 
assumed the French cockade, he came to make 
the definite request that he would arrest all 
such persons who were not in the service of 
the French legation. He also informed the 
secretary that six individuals had taken refuge 
within his jurisdiction. At Eome the residen- 
ces of the foreign ambassadors enjoyed the 
privilege of sanctuary in comrnon with most 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 57 

Dupbot'a coutenipliited ManiHge. 

of the churches. Joseph informed the secreta- 
ry, that if those who had taken refuge in his 
palace were of the insurgents, they should be 
given up. As he returned to his residence he 
found General Duphot, a very distinguished 
French officer, who the next day was to be 
married to Joseph's wife's sister, and several 
other French gentlemen, eagerly conversing 
upon the folly of the past night. Just as they 
were sitting down to dinner, the porter inform- 
ed him that some twenty persons were endeav- 
oring to en-ter the palace, and that they were 
distributing French cockades to the passers-by, 
and were shouting " Live the Eepublic." One 
of these revolutionists, a French artist, burst 
like a maniac into the presence of the ambas- 
sador, exclaiming " We are free, and have come 
to demand the support of France." 

Joseph sternly reproved him for his sense- 
less conduct, and ordered him to retire imme- 
diately from the protection of the Embassy, and 
to take his comrades with him, or severe meas- 
ures would be resorted to. One of the officers 
said to the artist scornfully, "Where would 
your pretended liberty be, should the governor 
of the city open fire upon you ?" 

The artist retired in confusion. But the tu- 



J 



68 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 



Invasion of the Palace. 



mult around the palace increased. Joseph's 
friends saw, in the midst of the mob, well-known 
spies of the Grovernment urging them on, shout- 
ing Vive la BepubUque, and scattering money with 
a liberal hand. The insurgents were availing 
themselves of the palace of the French ambas- 
sador as their place of rendezvous, and where, if 
need be, they hoped to find a sanctuary. Joseph 
took the insignia of his office, and calling upon 
the officers of his household to follow him, de- 
scended into the court, intending to address the 
mob, as he spoke their language. In leaving 
the cabinet, they he'ard-a prolonged discharge 
of fire-arms. It was from the troops of the Gov- 
ernment ; a picket of cavalry, in violation of the 
established usages of national courtesy, had in- 
vaded the j urisdiction of the French ambassador, 
which, protected by his flag, was regarded as the 
soil of France, and, without consulting the am- 
bassador, were discharging volleys of musket- 
ry through the three vast arches of the palace. 
Many dropped dead; others fell wounded and 
bleeding. The terrified crowd precipitated it- 
self into the courts and on the stairs, pursued 
by the avenging bullets of the Government. 
Joseph and his friends, as they boldly forced 
their way through the flying multitude, en- 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 59 

Account of the Insurrection. 

countered the dying and the dead, and not a 
few Government spies, who they knew were 
paid to excite the insurrection and then to de- 
nounce the movement to the authorities. 

Just as they were stepping out of the vesti- 
bule they met a company of fusileers who had 
followed the cavalry. At the sight of the 
French ambassador they stopped. Joseph de- 
manded the commander. He, conscious of the 
lawlessness of his proceedings, had concealed 
himself in the ranks, and could not be distin- 
guished. He then demanded of the troops by 
whose order they entered upon the jurisdiction 
of France, and commanded them to retire. A 
scene of confusion ensued, some advancing, oth- 
ers retiring. Joseph then facing them, said, in 
a very decisive tone, " that the first one who 
should attempt to pass the middle of the court 
would encounter trouble." 

He drew his sword, and Generals Duphot and 
Sherlock and two other officers of his escort, 
arpied with swords or pistols and poniards, 
ranged themselves at his side to resist their ad- 
vance. The musketeers retired just beyond 
pistol-shot, and then deliberately fired a general 
discharge in the direction of Joseph and his 
friends. None of the party immediately sur- 






60 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 



Death of Duphot. 



rounding the ambassador were struck, but sev- 
eral were killed in tbeir rear. 

Joseph, with General Duphot, boldly ad- 
vanced as the soldiers were reloading their 
muskets, and ordered them to retire from the 
jurisdiction of France, saying that the ambas- 
sador would charge himself with the punish- 
ment of the insurgents, and that he would im- 
mediately Bend one of his own officers to the 
Vatican oT to the Governor of Kome, and that 
the affair would thus be settled. The soldiers 
seemed to pay no regard to this, and continued 
loading their muskets. General Duphot, one of 
the most brave and impetuous of men, leaped 
forward into the midst of the bayonets of the 
soldiers, prevented one from loading and struck 
up the gun of another, who was just upon the 
point of firing. Joseph and General Sherlock, 
as by instinct, followed him. 

Some of the soldiers seized General Duphot, 
dragged him rudely beyond the sacred pre- 
cincts of the ambassador's palace and the flagof 
France, and then a soldier discharged a musket 
into his bosom. The heroic general fell, and 
immediately painfully rose, leaning upon his 
sabre. Joseph, who witnessed it all, in the 
midst of this scene of indescribable confusion 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 61 

Peril of Joseph. 

called out to bis friend, who the next day was 
to be his brother-in-law, to return. General 
Duphot attempted it, when a second shot pros- 
trated him upon the pavement. More than 
fifty shots were then discharged into his lifeless 
body. 

The soldiers now directed their fire upon 
Joseph and General Sherlock. Fortunately 
there was a door through which they escaped 
into the garden of the palace, where they were 
for a moment sheltered from the bullets of the 
assassins. Another company of Government 
troops had now arrived, and was firing from 
the other side of the street. Two French offi- 
cers, from whom Joseph had been separated, 
now joined him and General Sherlock in the 
garden. There was nothing to prevent the sol- 
diers from entering the palace, where Joseph's 
wife and her sister, who the next day was to 
have become the wife of General Duphot, were 
trembling in terror. Joseph and his friends re- 
gained the palace by the side of the garden. 
The court was now filled with the soldiers, 
and with the insurgents who had so foolishly 
and ignominiously caused this horrible scene. 
Twenty of the insurgents lay dead upon the 
pavement. 



62 Joseph Bonapakte. [1797. || 

Note to Talleynuid. 

*'I entered the palace," Joseph writes in 
his dispatch to Talleyrand; "the walks were 
covered with blood, with the dying, dragging 
themselves along, and with the wounded, loudly 
groaning. We closed the three gates fronting 
upon the street. The lamentations of the be- 
trothed of Duphot, that young hero who, con- 
stantly in the advance-guard of the armies of 
the Pyrenees and of Italy, had always been vic- 
torious, butchered by cowardly brigands ; the 
absence of her mother and of her brother, 
whom curiosity had drawn from the palace to 
see the monuments of Eome; the fusillade which 
continued in the streets, and against the gates 
of the palace ; the outer apartments of the vast 
palace of Corsini, which I inhabited, thronged 
with people of whose intentions we were igno- 
rant : these circumstances and many others ren- 
dered the scene inconceivably cruel." 

Joseph immediately summoned the servants 
of the household around him. Three had been 
wounded. The French officers, impelled by 
an instinct of national pride, heroically emerged 
from the palace, with the aid of these domestics, 
to rescue the body of their unfortunate general. 
Taking a circuitous route, notwithstanding the 
fusillade which was still continued, they sue- 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. 63 

Imbecility of the Papal Government. 

ceeded in reaching the spot of his cowardly as- 
sassination. There they found the remains of 
this truly ndble young man, despoiled, pierced 
with bullets, clotted with blood, and covered 
with stones which had been thrown upon him. 

It was six o'clock in the evening. Two 
hours had elapsed since the assassination of 
Duphot; and yet not a member of the Koman 
Government had appeared at the palace to 
bring protection or to restore order. Joseph 
was, properl}^, very indignant, and resolved at 
once to call for his passports and leave the city. 
He wrote a brief note to the Secretary of State, 
and sent it by a faithful domestic, who succeed- 
ed in the darkness in passing through the crowd 
of soldiers. As the firing was still continued, 
Joseph and his friends anxiously watched the 
messenger from the attic window^s of the palace 
till he was lost from sight. 

An hour passed, and some one was heard 
knocking at the gate with repeated blows. 
They supposed that it was certainly the gov- 
ernor or some Roman officer of commanding 
authority. It proved to be Chevalier Angio- 
liui, minister from Tuscany, the envoy of a 
prince who was in friendly alliance with the 
French Republic. As he passed through the 



H 



64 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 

The Ministers of Tuscany and Spain. 

soldiery they stopped his carriage, and sarcas- 
tically asked him "if he were in search of 
dangers and bullet-wounds." He* courageous- 
ly and reproachfully replied, " There can be 
no such dangers in Eome within the jurisdic- 
tion of the ambassador of France." This was 
a severe reproach against the officers of a na- 
tion who were indebted to the moderation of 
the French Eepublic for their continued polit- 
ical existence. The minister of Spain soon also 
presented himself, braving all the dangers of 
the street, which were truly very great. They 
were both astonished that no public officer 
had arrived, and expressed much indignation 
in view of the violation of the rights of the 
Embassy. 

Ten o'clock arrived, and still no public offi- 
cer had made his appearance. Joseph wrote 
a second letter to the cardinal. An answer 
now came, which was soon followed by an offi- 
cer and about forty men, who said that they 
had been sent to protect the ambassador's com- 
munications with the Secretary of State. But 
they had no authority or power to rescue the 
palace from the insurgents, who were crowd- 
ed into one part of it, and from the Govern- 
ment troops, who occupied another part. No 



1797.] Diplomatic Labors. Qq 

Joseph leaves Rome. 

attention had been paid to Joseph's reitera- 
ted demands for the liberation of the palace 
from the dominion of the insurgents and the 
troops. 

Joseph then wrote to the secretary, demand- 
ing immediately his passport. It was sent to 
him two hours after midnight. At six o'clock 
in the morning, fourteen hours after the assas- 
sination of General Duphot, the investment of 
the palace by the troops and the massacre of 
the people who had crowded into it, not a sin- 
gle Eoman officer had made his appearance 
charged by the Government to investigate the 
state of affairs. 

Joseph, after having secured the safety of 
the few French remaining at Eome, left for 
Tuscany, and in a dispatch to the French Gov- 
ernment minutely detailed the events which 
liad occurred. In the conclusion of his dis- 
patch he wrote: 

" This Government is not inconsistent with 
itself Crafty and rash in perpetrating crime, 
cowardly and fawning when it has been com- 
mitted, ft is to-day upon its knees before the 
minister Azara, that he may go to Florence 
and induce me to return to Rome. So writes 
to me that generous friend of France, worthy 

5 



66 Joseph Bonaparte. [1797. 

Letter of Talleyrand. 

of dwelling in a land where his virtues and his 
noble loyalty may be better appreciated." 

In reply to this dispatch the French minis- 
ter, Talleyrand, wrote to Joseph, "I have re- 
ceived, citizen, the heart-rending letter which 
you have written me upon the frightful events 
which transpired at Eome on the 28th of De- 
cember. Notwithstanding the care which you 
have taken to conceal every thing personal to 
yourself during that horrible day, you have 
not been able to conceal from me that you 
have manifested, in the highest degree, courage, 
coolness, and that intelligence which nothing 
can escape ; and that you have sustained with 
magnanimity the honor of the French name. 
The Directory charges me to express to you, 
in the strongest and most impressive terms, its 
extreme satisfaction with your whole conduct. 
You will readily believe, I trust, that I am hap- 
py to be the organ of these sentiments." 



1798.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 67 

Elected to the Council of Five Hundred. 



CHAPTER III. 

JOSEPH THE PEACE-MAKER. 

JOSEPH, after a short tarry at Florence, re- 
turned to Paris, where he again met his 
brother. Napoleon was much disappointed 
with the result of the embassy to Rome, for 
he had ardently hoped to cultivate the most 
friendly relations with that power. Joseph 
was favored with a long interview with the 
Directory, by whom he was received with 
great cordiality. In testimony of their satis- 
faction, they offered him the embassy to Ber- 
lin. He, however, declined the appointment, 
as he preferred to enter the Council of Five 
Hundred, to which office he had been nomina- 
ted by the Electoral College of one of the de- 
partments. The Government of France then 
consisted of an Executive of five Directors, a 
Senate, called the Council of Ancients, and a 
House of Representatives, called the Council 
of Five Hundred. 

Preparations were now making for the ex- 



68 Joseph Bonaparte. [1798. 

Kemarks of Napoleon. 

p edition to Egypt. The command was offered 
to Napoleon. For some time he hesitated be- 
fore accepting it. One day he said to his 
brother Joseph, 

" The Directory see me here with uneasi- 
ness, notwithstanding all my efforts to throw 
myself into the shade. Neither the Directory 
nor I can do any thing to oppose that tenden- 
cy to a more centralized government, which is 
so manifestly inevitable. Our dreams of a re- 
public were the illusions of youth. Since the 
ninth Thermidor,^ the Eepublican instinct has 
grown weaker every day. The efforts of the 
Bourbons, of foreigners, sustained by the re- 
membrance of the year 1793, had reunited 
against the Eepublican system an imposing 
majority. But for the thirteenth Yendemiaire' 
and the eighteenth Fructidor,^ this majority 

^ 9th Thermidor, 28th of July, 1794. This was the date 
of the overthrow of Robespierre, and of the termination of 
the Reign of Terror. The enormous atrocities perpetrated 
under the name of the Republic had excited general distrust 
of republican institutions. 

^ 13th Vendemiaire, 5th of October, 1795, when Napoleon 
quelled the insurgent sections. 

^ 18th Fructidor, 4th of September, 1 797. On this day the 
majority of the French Directory overthrew the minority, 
who were in favor of monarchical institutions. Sixty-three 
Deputies were banished for conspiring to introduce monarchy. 
Both councils renewed their oath of hatred against royalty. 



1798.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 09 



Remarks of Napoleon. 



would heave triumphed a long time ago. The 
feebleness, the dissensions of the Directory, 
have done the rest. It is upon me that all 
eyes are fixed to-day. To-morrow they will 
be fixed upon some one else. While waiting 
for that other one to appear, if he is to appear, 
my interest tells me that no violence should be 
done to fortune. We must leave to fortune 
an open field. 

" Many persons hope still in the Eepublic 
Perhaps they have reason. I leave for the 
East, with all means for success. If my coun- 
try has need of me — if the number of those 
who think with Talleyrand, Sieyes, and Eoe- 
derer should increase, should war be resumed, 
and prove unfriendly to the arms of France, I 
shall return more sure of the opinion of the 
nation. If, on the contrary, the war should be 
favorable to the Republic, if a military states- 
man like myself should rise and gather-around 
him the wishes of the people, very well, I 
shall render, perhaps, still greater services to 
the world in the East than he can do. I shall 
probably overthrow English domination, and 
shall arrive more surely at a maritime peace, 
than by the demonstrations which the Direc- 
tory makes upon the sliores of the Channel. 



70 Joseph Bonaparte. [1798. 



Napoleon's Patriotism. 



" The system of France must become that 
of Europe in order to be durable. We see 
thus very evidently what is required. I wish 
what the nation wishes. Truly I do not know 
what it wishes to-day, but we shall know bet- 
ter hereafter. Till then let us study its wishes 
and its necessities. I do not wish to usurp any 
thing. I shall, at all events, find renown in the 
East ; and if that renown can be made servieea- 
able to my country, I will return with it. I will 
then endeavor to secure the stability of the hap- 
piness of France in securing, if it is possible, the 
prosperity of Europe, and extending our free 
principles into neighboring states, who may be 
made friends if they can profit from our mis- 
fortunes." 

" Such," says Joseph, " were the habitual 
thoughts of General Bonaparte. His happi- 
ness was not to depend merely upon the pos- 
session of power. He wished to merit the 
gratitude of his country and of posterity by his 
deeds, and to conform his life to duty, sure that 
it was by such renown alone that his name 
could pass down to future ages." 

Joseph was now a member of the Council 
of Five Hundred. His brother Lucien, though 
he was still very young, had also been elected 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 71 

The Directory. State of France. 

a member of tlie same body. The brilliant 
achievements of the young conqueror in the 
East roused the enthusiasm of France. The 
conquest of Malta, the landing at Alexandria, 
the battle of the Pyramids, and the entrance into 
Cairo, had been reported through France, rous- 
ing in every hill and valley shouts of exulta- 
tion. Napoleon was rapidly gaining that re- 
nown which would enable him to control and 
to guide his countrymen. 

The Directory still nominally governed 
France, though the affairs of the nation, under 
their inefficiency and misrule, were passing rap- 
idly to ruin. The Directors contemplated with 
alarm the rising celebrity which Napoleon was 
acquiring in the East. They made a formida- 
ble attack upon him, through a committee, in 
the Council of Five Hundred. Joseph defend- 
ed his absent brother with so much eloquence 
and power, as to confound his accusers, and he 
obtained a unanimous verdict in his favor. 

The state of things in France was now 
very deplorable. The Allies with vigor had 
renewed the war. The Austrian armies had 
again overrun Italy, and were threatening to 
scale the Alps, and to rush down upon the 
plains of France. The British fleet, the most 



72 Joseph Bonaparte. [1799. 

Anarchy. Joseph sends to Napoleon. 

powerful military arm the world has ever 
known, had swept the commerce of France 
from all seas, had captured many of her colo- 
nies, and was bombarding, with shot and shell, 
every city of the Eepublic within reach of its 
broadsides. The five Directors were quarrel- 
ling among themselves, some favoring monar- 
chy, others republicanism. The two councils, 
that of the Ancients and that of the Five Hun- 
dred, were at antagonism. Many formidable 
conspiracies were formed, some for the support 
of the Allies and the restoration of the Bour- 
bons, others for the re-introduction of the Jac- 
obinical Reign of Terror. 

France was in a state of general anarchy. 
There was no man of sufficient celebrity to gain 
the confidence of the people, so that he could 
assume the office of leader, and bring order out 
of chaos. The once mighty monarchy of France 
was in the condition of a mob, without a head, 
careering this way and that way, in tumultuous 
and inextricable confusion. Joseph sent a spe- 
cial messenger, a Greek by the name of Bour- 
baki, to Jean d'Acre, to communicate to Na- 
poleon the state of afikirs. 

Informed of these facts, at this momentous 
crisis Napoleon, having attained renown which 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. ' 78 

Return of Napoleon. Remarks of Morcaii. 

caused every eye in France to be fixed upon 
him, landed at Frejus, and was borne along, 
with the acclamations of the multitude, to Paris. 
Immediately upon the young general's arrival, 
General Moreau hastened to his humble resi- 
dence in the Kue de la Yictoire, and earnestly 
said to him, 

" Disgusted with the government of the law- 
yers, who have ruined the Eepublic, I come to 
offer you my aid to save the country." 

A number of the most distinguished men 
of France crowded the small parlors of Gener- 
al Bonaparte. As he was speaking, with that 
genius which ever commanded attention and 
acsent, of the political condition and wants of 
France, Moreau interrupted him, saying, 

" I only desire to unite my efforts with 
yours to save France I am convinced that you 
only have the power. The generals and the 
officers who have served under me are now in 
Paris, and are ready to co-operate with you." 
The little saloon was crowded. General ^lac- 
(lonald was present. Generals Jourdan and 
Augereau had conversed with Salcetti, and re- 
ported that Bernadotte and a majority of the 
Council of Five Ilundred were in favor of the 
movement. 



^!H 



74 Joseph Bonaparte. [1799. 

18th Brumaire. 

Joseph co-operated diligently with Napole- 
on in the measures now set on foot to rescue 
France from destruction. Joseph dined with 
Siejes. At the table Sieyes said to his guests, 

" I wish to unite with General Bonaparte, 
for of all the military men he is the most of a 
statesman." 

On the 18th Brumaire^ the Directory was 
overthrown, and, without one drop of blood 
being shed, a new government was organized, 
and Napoleon was made consul. The world 
is divided, and perhaps may forever remain di- 
vided, in its judgment of this event. Some 
call Napoleon a usurper. France then called 
him, and still calls him, the saviour of his 
country. 

In the midst of these tumultuary scenes, 
when it was uncertain ^whether Napoleon 
would gain his ends or fall upon the scaffold, 
General Augereau came, in great alarm, to St. 
Cloud, and informed Napoleon that his ene- 
mies in the two councils were proposing to 
vote him an outlaw. 

" Yery well," said Napoleon calmly, " you 
and T, General Augereau, have long been ac- 
quainted with each other. Say to your friends 

^ 18th Brumaire, Nov. 9th, 1799. 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 75 

Chiiractcr of Joyepli. 

the cork is drawn, we must now drink the 
wine." 

Joseph Bonaparte, who a little before these 
events had withdrawn from the Council of 
Five Hundred, was with his brother constant- 
ly through these momentous scenes. Imme- 
diately after the establishment of the new gov- 
ernment he was appointed a member of the 
legislative body, and soon after of the Council 
of State. Joseph had become a very wealthy 
man, having acquired a large fortune by his 
marriage. lie owned a very beautiful estate 
at Mortfontaine, but a few leagues from Paris. 
Both Joseph and his wife were extremely fond 
of the quiet, domestic pleasures of rural life. 
Neither of them had any taste for .the excite- 
ment and the splendors of state. But France, 
in her condition of peril, assailed by the al- 
lied despotism of Europe without, and agita- 
ted by conspiracies within, demanded the ener- 
gies of every patriotic arm. Joseph was thus 
constrained to sacrifice his inclinations to his 
sense of duty. He rendered his brother in- 
valuable assistance by the energy and the con- 
ciliatory manners with which he endeavored 
to carry out the plans of the First Consul. 
Lucien Bonaparte, eight years younger tlian 



76 Joseph Bonaparte. [1799. 



Plans and Measures of Napoleon, 



Joseph, accepted tlie post of Minister of the 
Interior. 

Before the overthrow of the Directory mob 
law had reigned triumphant in Paris. Kapo- 
leon, as first consul, immediately took up his 
residence in the palace of the Tuileries. It was 
proposed to him that he should close the gates 
of the garden of the Tuileries, that it might no 
longer be a place of public resort. Joseph 
strenuously opposed the measure, and it was 
renounced. The great object Napoleon aimed 
at was to ascertain the wishes of the people, 
that he might be the executor of their will. 
His only power consisted in having cordiall}^ 
with him the masses of the population. He 
was untiring in his endeavors to ascertain pub- 
lic sentiment, and endeavored to adopt those 
measures which should, from their manifest 
wisdom and justice, secure public approbation. 
In this service Joseph was invaluable to his 
brother. He gave brilliant entertainments at 
his chateau at Mortfontaine ; and being a man 
of remarkably amiable spirit and polished man- 
ners, he secured the confidence of all parties, 
and exerted a very powerful influence in heal- 
ing the wounds of past strife. At these enter- 
tainments Joseph made it his constant object 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 77 



Joseph an Ambassador. 



to study the wishes and the opinions of the 
different classes of society. 

The Directory had involved the public in 
serious difficulties with the United States. Na- 
poleon immediately appointed Joseph, with two 
associates, to adjust all the differences between 
the two countries. As both parties were dis- 
posed to friendly relations, all difficulties were 
speedily terminated, and a treaty was signed 
on the 80th of September, 1800, at Joseph's 
mansion at Mortfontaine. 

England and Austria, with great vigor, still 
pressed the war upon France, notwithstanding 
the earnest appeals of Napoleon to the King of 
England and the Emperor of Austria in behalf 
of peace. This refusal to sheathe the sword 
rendered the campaign of Marengo a necessi- 
ty. Napoleon crossed the Alps, and upon the 
plains of Marengo almost demolished the ar- 
mies of Austria. The haughty Emperor was 
compelled to sue for that peace which he had 
so scornfully rejected. The commissioners ol" 
the two powers met at Luneville. Napoleon, 
highly gratified at the skill which Joseph had 
displayed in adjusting the difficulties in the 
United States, appointed him as the ambassa- 
dor from France to secure a treaty with Aus- 



i 



78 Joseph Bonaparte. [1799- 

Peace of Luneville. Hostility of England. 

tria. The two brothers were in daily, and 
sometimes in hourly conference in reference to 
the questions of vast national importance which 
this treaty involved. But Joseph was again 
entirely successful. On the 9th of February, 
1801, the peace of Luneville was concluded, to 
the great satisfaction of the Emperor, and to 
the great gratification of France. Napoleon 
says, in the conclusion of a letter which he 
wrote to Joseph upon this subject, "The na- 
tion is satisfied with the treaty, and I am ex- 
ceedingly pleased with it." 

France was now at peace with all the Con- 
tinent. England alone implacably continued 
the war. But England was inaccessible to any 
blows which France could strike without mak- 
ing efforts more gigantic than nation ever at- 
tempted before. Napoleon resolved to make 
these efforts to attain peace. He prepared al- 
most to bridge the Channel with his fleet and 
gun-boats, that he might pour an army of in- 
vasion upon the shores of the belligerent isle, 
and thus compel the British to sheathe the 
sword. While these immense preparations 
were going on, the First Consul devoted his 
energies to the reconstruction of society in 
France. 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 79 

Religious Reaction. 

Eevolutionary fury had swept all the institu- 
tions of the past into chaotic ruin. The good 
and the bad had been alike demolished. Chris- 
tianity had been entirely overthrown, her 
churches destroyed, and her priesthood either 
slaughtered upon the guillotine, or driven from 
the realm. France presented the revolting as- 
pect of a mighty nation without morality, with- 
out religion, and without a God. The masses 
of the people, particularly in the rural districts 
of France, had become disgusted with the reign 
of vice and misery. They longed to enjoy 
again the quietude of the Sabbath morning, 
the tones of the Sabbath bell, the gathering of 
the congregations in the churches, and all those 
ministrations of religion which cheer the joy- 
ous hours of the bridal, and which convey 
solace to the chamber of death. The over- 
whelming majority of the people of France 
were Eoman Catholics. Among the millions 
who peopled the extensive realm there were 
but a few thousands who were Protestants. 
Napoleon had not the power, even had he 
wished it, of establishing Protestantism as the 
national religion. 

He therefore, in accordance with his policy 
of adopting those measures which were in ac- 



80 Joseph Bonaparte. [1799. 



The Concordat. 



cordance with the wishes of the people, resolved 
to recognize the Catholic religion as the relig- 
ion of France, while at the same time he en- 
forced perfect liberty of conscience for all other 
religious sects. He also determined that all 
the high dignitaries of the Church should be 
appointed by the French Government, and not 
by the Pope. He deemed it not befitting the 
dignity of France, or in accordance with her 
interests, that a foreign potentate, by having 
the appointment of all the places of ecclesiasti- 
cal power, should wield so immense an influ- 
ence over the French people. 

But to re-establish the Catholic religion, and 
to invest it with the supremacy which it had 
gained over the imaginations of men, it was 
necessary to bring the system under the pater- 
nal jurisdiction of the Pope, who throughout 
all Europe was the recognized father and head 
of the Church. 

But the Pope was jealous of his power. He 
would be slow to consent that any officers of 
the Church should be appointed by any voice 
which did not emanate from the Vatican. It 
was also an established decree of the Church 
that heresy was a crime, meriting the severest 
punishment, both civil and ecclesiastical. The 



1799.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 81 

The Concordat. 

Pope, therefore, could uot consent that any- 
where within his spiritual domain freedom of 
conscience should be tolerated. Under these 
circumstances, nothing could be more difficult 
than the accomplishment of the plan which 
Napoleon had proposed for the promotion of 
the peace and prosperity of France. 

The eyes of the First Consul w^ere imme- 
diately turned to his brother Joseph, as the most 
fitting man in France to conduct negotiations 
of so much delicacy and importance. He con- 
sequently was appointed, in conjunction with 
M. Cretet, Minister of the Interior, and the 
abbe Bernier, subsequently Bishop of Orleans, 
as commissioner on the part of France to a 
conference with the Holy See. The Pope sent, 
as his representatives, the cardinals Consalvi 
and Spina, and the father Caselli. Here again 
Joseph was entirely successful, and accomplish- 
ed his mission by securing all those results 
which theFirst Consul so earnestly had de- 
sired.' 

The celebrated Concordat^ was signed July 

* "I hold it for certain that in 1802 the Concordat was, on 
the part of Napoleon, an act of superior intelligence, much 
niore than of a despotic si)irit, and for the Christian religion 
in France an event as salutary as it was necessary. After 
the anarchy and the revolutionary orgies, the solemn recog- 

6 



82 Joseph Bonaparte. [ISOL 

The lie-esfcablishment of Cliristianity. 

15th, 1801, at the residence of Joseph in Par- 
is, in the Rue Faubourg St. Honore. It was 
two o'clock in the morning when the signa- 
tures of the several commissioners were affixed 
to this important document. 

" At the same hour," writes Joseph, " I be- 
came the father of a third infant, whose birth 
was saluted by the congratulations of the plen-' 
ipotentiaries of the two great powers, and 
whose prosperity was augured by the envoys 
of the vicar of Christ. Their prayers have not 
been granted. A widow at thirty years of 
age, separated from her father, proscribed, as 
has been all the rest of her family, there only 
remains to her the consolation of reflecting 
that she has not merited her misfortunes."^ 

Thus did Napoleon re-establish the Chris- 
tian religion throughout the whole territory of 
France. In this measure he was strenuously 
opposed by many of his leading officers, and by 

nition of Christianity by the State could alone give satisfac- 
tion to public sentiment, and assure to the Christian influ- 
ence the dignity and the stability which it was needful that 
it should recover." — Meditations sur I'etat Actuel de la Ee- 
ligion Chretienne, par M. Guizot, p. 5. 

^ This daughter subsequently married her cousin, the 
brother of the Emperor Napoleon III., the second son of 
Louis Bonaparte. He died at an early age, in a campaign for 
the liberation of Italy. 



1801.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 83 

The Re-establishment of Cbrutiunity. 

the corrupt revolutionary circles of France, yet 
throughout all the rural districts the restora- 
tion of relicfion was received with boundless 
enthusiasm. 

" The sound of the village bells," writes 
Alison, " again calling the faithful to the house 
of God, was hailed by millions as the dove with 
the olive-branch, which first pronounced peace 
to the green, undeluged earth. The thought- 
ful and religious everywhere justly considered 
the voluntary return of a great nation to the 
creed of its fothers, from the experienced im- 
possibility of living without its precepts, as the 
most signal triumph which has occurred since 
it ascended the imperial throne under the ban- 
ners of Constantine." 

Nearly all the powers upon the Continent 
of Europe were now at peace with France. 
England alone still refused to sheathe the 
sword. But the people of England began to 
remonstrate so determinedly against this end- 
less war, which was openly waged to force 
upon France a detested dynasty, that the Eng- 
lish Government was compelled, though with 
much reluctance, to listen to proposals for 
peace. 

The latter part of the year 1801, the pleni- 



84 Joseph Bonaparte. [1801. 



Peace of Amiena. 



potentiaries of France and England met at 
Amiens, an intermediate point between Lon- 
don and Paris. England appointed, as her am- 1 
bassador. Lord Cornwallis, a nobleman of ex- 
alted character, and whose lofty spirit of honor 
was superior to .every temptation. " The First 
Consul," writes Thiers, " on this occasion made 
choice of his brother Joseph, for whom he had 
a very particular affection, and who, by the 
amenity of his manners, and mildness of his 
character, was singularly well adapted for a 
peace-maker, an office which had been con- 
stantly reserved for him." 

Napoleon, who had nothing to gain by war, 
was exceedingly anxious for peace with all the 
world, that he might reconstruct French soci- 
ety from the chaos into which revolutionary 
anarchy had plunged it, and that he might 
develop the boundless resources of France. 
Lord Cornwallis was received in Paris, with 
the utmost cordiality by Napoleon. Joseph 
Bonaparte gave, in his honor, a magnificent 
entertainment, to which all the distinguished 
Englishmen in France were invited, and also 
such Frenchmen of note as he supposed Lord 
Cornwallis would be glad to meet. 

La Fayette was not invited. Cornwallis had 



1801.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 85 

Anecdote of Lord Cornwallis. 

commanded an army in America, where he had 
met La Fayette on fields of blood, and where 
he subsequently, with his whole army, had been 
taken prisoner. Joseph thought that painful as- 
sociations mio'htbe excited in the bosom of his 
English guest by meeting his successful antag- 
onist. He therefore, from a sense of delicacy, 
avoided bringing them together. But Corn- 
wallis was a man of generous nature. As he 
looked around upon the numerous guests as- 
sembled at the table, he said to Joseph, 

" I know that the Marquis de la Fayette is 
one of your friends. It would have given me 
much pleasure to have met him here. I do 
not, however, complain of your diplomatic cau- 
tion. I suppose that you did not wish to in- 
troduce to me at your table the general of 
Georgetown. I thank you for your kind in- 
tention, which I fully appreciate. But I hope 
that when we know each other better, we shall 
banish all reserve, and not act as diplomatists, 
but as men who sincerely desire to fulfill the 
wishes of their governments, and to arrive 
promptly at a solid peace. ^Moreover, the 
Marquis de la Fayette is one of those men 
whom we can not help loving. During his 
captivity I presented myself before the Em- 



86 Joseph Bonaparte. [1802. 



Anecdote. 



peror (of Grermany) to implore his liberation, 
which I did not have the happiness of obtain- 
ing." 

Cornwallis left Paris for Amiens. Joseph 
immediately after proceeded to the same place. 
As he alighted from his carriage in the court- 
yard of the hotel which had been prepared for 
him, one of the first persons whom he met was 
Lord Cornwallis. The English lord, disregard- 
ing the formalities of etiquette, advanced, and 
presenting his hand to Joseph, said, 

" I hope that it is thus that you will deal 
with me, and that all our etiquette will not re- 
tard for a single hour the conclusion of peace. 
Such forms are not necessary where frankness 
and honest intentions rule. My Government 
would not have chosen me as an ambassador, 
if it had not been intended to restore peace to 
the world. The First Consul, in choosing his 
brother, has also proved his good intentions. 
The rest remains for us." 

Louis Kapoleon gives the following rather 
amusing account of this incident. "When 
Joseph, plenipotentiary of the French Eepub- 
lic, journeyed with his colleagues toward Ami- 
ens, to conclude peace with England, in 1802, 
they were much occupied, he said, during the 




CORNWALLIS AND JOSEPH. 



1802.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 89 

Hostility of the English Government. 

route, as to the ceremonial which should bo 
observed with the English diplomatists. In 
the interests of their mission they desired not 
to fail in any proprieties. Still, being repre- 
sentatives of a republican state, they did not 
wish to show too much attention, i:>revenance^ 
to the grand English lords with whom they 
were to treat. 

"The French ambassadors were therefore 
much embarrassed in deciding to whom it be- 
longed to make the first visit. Quite inexpe- 
rienced, they were not aware that foreign diplo- 
matists always conceal the inflexibility of their 
policy under the suppleness of forms. Thus 
they were promptly extricated from their em- 
barrassment ; for, to their great astonishment, 
they found, upon their arrival at Amiens, Lord 
Cornwallis waiting for them at the door of his 
hotel, and who, without any ceremonj^, him- 
self opened for them the door of their carriage, 
giving them a cordial grasp of the hand.'" 

Lord Cornwallis, however, found himself in- 
cessantly embarrassed by instructions he was 
receiving from the ministry at London. They 
were very reluctantly consenting to peace, be- 
ing forced to it by the pressure of public opin- 

' Qi^uvres de Napoleon III. tome ii. p. 450. 



90 Joseph Bonaparte. [1802. 

Treaty of Amiens Concluded. 

ion. They were, therefore, hoping that obsta- 
cles would arise which would enable them, 
with some plausibility, to renew the war. Na- 
poleon continually wrote to his brother urging 
]iim to do every thing in his power to secure 
the signing of the treaty. In a letter on the 
10th of March, he writes, 

*' The. differences at Amiens are not worth 
making such a noise about. A letter from 
Amiens caused the alarm in London by assert- 
ing that I did not wish for peace. Under 
these circumstances delay will do real mischief, 
and may be of great consequence to our squad- 
rons and our expeditions. Have the kindness, 
therefore, to send special couriers to inform me 
of what you are doing, and of what you hear; 
for it is clear to me that, if the terms of peace 
are not already signed, there is a change of 
plans in London." 

The treaty was signed on the 25th of March, 
1802. Joseph immediately prepared to return 
to Paris. Lord Cornwallis, in taking leave of 
Joseph, said, 

"I must go as soon as possible to London, in 
order to allay the storm which will there be 
gathering against me." 

"When I arrived in Paris," writes Joseph, 



1802.] Joseph the Peace-Maker. 91 

Borunnliu do St. IMerre. 

" the First Consul was at the opera ; ho 
caused me to enter into his box, and presented 
me to the public in announcing the conclusion 
of the peace. One can easily imagine the emo- 
tions which agitated me, and also him, for he 
was as tender a friend, and as kind a brother, 
as he was prodigious as a man and great as a 
sovereign." 

Bernardin de St, Pierre, in his preface to 
"Paul and Virginia," renders the following 
homage to the character of Joseph at this time: 

" About a year and a half ago I was invi- 
ted by one of the subscribers to the fine edi- 
tion of Paul and Virginia to come and see him 
at his country-house. He was a young father 
of a family, whose physiognomy announced 
the qualities of his mind. He united ill him- 
self every thing which distinguishes as a son, 
a brother, a husband, a fxther, and a friend to 
humanity. He took me in private, and said, 
'My fortune, which I owe to the nation, af- 
fords me the means of being useful. Add to 
my happiness by giving me an opportunity of 
contributing to your own.' This philosopher, 
so worthy of a throne, if any throne were 
worthy of him, was Prince Joseph Napoleon 
Bonaparte." 



92 Joseph Bonaparte. [1802. 

Talleyrand. Madame de Stael. 

While the treaty of Amiens was under dis- 
cussion, Talleyrand wrote to Joseph : " Your lot 
will indeed be a happy one if you are able to 
secure for your brother that peace which alone 
his enemies fear. I embrace you, and I love 
you. I think that this affair will kill me un- 
less it is closed as we desire." 

At the conclusion of the treaty,- Talleyrand 
again wrote: "My dear Joseph, — Citizen 
Dupuis has just arrived. He has been re- 
ceived by the First Consul as the bearer of 
such good, grand, glorious news as you have 
just sent by him should be received. Your 
brother is perfectly satisfied {parfaitement con- 
tent''). 

Madame de Stael wrote to Joseph : " Peace 
with England is the joy of the world. It adds 
to my joy that it is you who have promoted it, 
and that every year you have some new occa- 
sion to make the whole nation love and ap- 
plaud yoUi You have terminated the most 
important negotiation in the history of France. 
That glory will be without any alloy." 



1803.] Joseph King of Naples. 93 

Rupture of the Peace of Amicn?. 



CHAPTER IV. 

JOSEPH KING OF NAPLES. 

THE peace of Amiens was of short duration. 
In May, 1803 — but fourteen months after 
the signing of the treaty — England again re- 
newed hostilities without even a declaration of 
war. This was the signal for new scenes of 
blood and woe. Napoleon now resolved to as- 
sail his implacable foe by carrying his armies 
into the heart of England. Enormous prep- 
arations were made upon the French coast to 
transport a resistless force across the Channel. 
Joseph Bonaparte was placed in command of 
a regiment of the line, which had recently re- 
turned, with great renown, from the fields of 
Italy. 

In the midst of these preparations, which 
excited fearful apprehensions in England, the 
British Government succeeded in organizing 
another coalition with Austria and Eussia, to 
ftxU upon France in the rear. The armies of 



94 Joseph Bonaparte. [1803. 



Eupture of the Peace of Amiens. 



these gigantic JSTorthern powers commenced 
their march toward the Ehine. ISTapoleon 
broke up the camp of Boulogne and advanced 
to meet them. The immortal campaigns of 
Ulm and Austerlitz were the result. Incredi- 
ble as it may seem, England represented this 
as an unprovoked invasion of Germany by 
Kapoleon. This incessant assault of the Al- 
lies upon France was a great grief to the Em- 
peror. In the midst of all the distractions 
which preceded this triumphant march, he 
wrote to his Minister of Finance : 

"I am distressed beyond measure at the ne- 
cessities of my situation, which, by compelling 
me to live in camps, and engage in distant ex- 
peditions, withdraw my attention from what 
would otherwise be the chief object of my 
anxiety, and the first wish of my heart — a 
good and solid organization of all which con- 
cerns the interests of banks, manufactures, and 
commerce." 

While Napoleon was absent upon this cam- 
paign, Joseph was left in Paris, to attend to the 
administration of home affairs. This he did, 
much to the satisfaction of Napoleon, and with 
great honor to himself Napoleon was now 



1803.] Joseph Ktxg of Naples. 95 

Conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon. 

Emperor of France, and the Senate and the 
people had declared Joseph and his children 
heirs of the throne, on fiiilure of Napoleon's 
issue. 

A gigantic conspiracy was formed in Eng- 
land by Count d'Artois, subsequently Charles 
X., and other French emigrants, for the assas- 
sination of Napoleon. The plan was for a hun- 
dred resolute men, led by the desperate George 
Cadoudal, to waylay Napoleon when passing, 
as was his wont, with merely a small guard of 
ten outriders, from the Tuileries to Malmaison. 
The conspirators flattered themselves that this 
would be considered war, not assassination. 
The Bourbons were then to raise their banner 
in France, and the emigrants, lingering upon 
the frontiers, were to rush into the empire with 
the Allied armies, and re-establish the throne 
of the old regime. The Princes of Conde 
grandfather, son, and grandson, were then in 
the service and pay of Great Britain, fighting 
against their native land, and, by the laws of 
France traitors, exposed to the penalty of 
death. The grandson, the Duke d'Enghien, 
was on the French frontier, in the duchy of 
Baden, waiting for the signal to enter France 
arms in hand. 



96 Joseph Bokapaete. [1802. 



Arrest of the Duke d'Enghien. 



It was supposed that lie was actively en- 
gaged in the conspiracy for the assassination, 
as he was known frequently to enter France 
by night and in disguise. But it afterward ap- 
peared that these journeys were to visit a 
young lady to whom the duke was much at- 
tached. 

ISTapoleon, supposing that the duke was in- 
volved, in the conspiracy, and indignant in 
view of these repeated plots, in which the 
Bourbons seemed to regard him but as a wild 
beast whom they could shoot down at their 
pleasure, resolved to teach them that he was 
not thus to be assailed with impunity. A de- 
tachment of soldiers was sent across the border, 
who arrested the duke in his bed, brought him 
to Yincennes, where he was tried by court- 
martial, condemned as a traitor waging war 
against his native country, and, by a series of 
accidents, was shot before Napoleon had time 
to extend that pardon which he intended to 
grant. The friends of Napoleon do not se- 
verely censure him for this deed. His enemies 
call it wanton murder. Josepla thus speaks of 
this event : 

" The catastrophe of the Duke d'Enghien 
requires of me some details too honorable to 



1803.] Joseph King of Naples. 99 

Joseph's Interview witli Napoleon. 

the memory of Napoleon for me to pass them 
by in silence. Upon the arrival of the duke at 
Vincennes, I was in my home at Mortfontaine. 
I was sent for to Malmaison. Scarcely had I 
arrived at the gate when Josephine came to 
meet me, very much agitated, to announce the 
event of the day. Napoleon had consulted 
Cambaceres and Berthier, who were in favor 
of the prisoner; but she greatly feared the 
influence of Talleyrand, who had already made 
the tour of the park with NapoleoUc 

" ' Your brother,' said she, ' has called for 
you several times. Hasten to interrupt this 
Ion 2: interview : that lame man makes me 
tremble.' 

" When I arrived at the door of the saloon, 
the First Consul took leave of M. de Talley- 
rand, and called me. He expressed his astonish- 
ment at the great diversity of opinion of the two 
last persons whom he had consulted, and de- 
manded mine. I recalled to him his political 
principles, which were to govern all the fac- 
tions by taking part with none. I recalled to 
liimthc circumstance of his entry into the artil- 
lery in consequence of the encouragement which 
the Prince of Conde had given me to commence 
a military career. I still remembered the qua- 



100 Joseph Bonaparte. [1803. 



Conflicting Views. Madame de Stael. 

train of the verses composed by the abbe Si- 
mon: 

" * Conde ! quel nom, Tumvers le venere; 
A ce pays il est cher a jamais ; 
Mars I'honore pendant la guerre, 
Et Minerve pendant la paix.'^ 

"Little did we then think that we should 
ever be deliberating upon the fate of his grand- 
son. Tears moistened the eyes of Napoleon. 
With a nervous gesture, which always with 
him accompanied a generous thought, he said, 
' His pardon is in my heart, since it is in my 
power to pardon him. But that is not enough 
for me. I wish that the grandson of Coride 
should serve in our armies. I feel myself suf- 
ficiently strong for that.' 

" With these impressions I returned to Mort- 
fontaine. The family were at the dinner- table. 
I took a seat by the side of Madame de Stael, 
who had at her left M. Mathieu de Montmo- 
rency. Madame de Stael, with the assurance 
which I gave her of the intention of the First 
Consul to pardon a descendant of the great 
Conde, exclaimed in characteristic language, 

^ " Conde ! what a name ! the universe reveres it ; 
To this country it is ever dear ; 
Mars honors it during war, 
And Minerva during peace." 



1803.] Joseph King of Naples. 101 

Execution of the Duke d'Enghien. 

'"All! that is right; if it were not so, we 
should not see here M. Mathieu de Montmo- 
rency.' 

" But another nobleman present, who had not 
emigrated, said to me, on the contrary: 'Will it 
then be permitted to the Bourbons to conspire 
with impunity ? The First Consul is deceived 
if he think that the nobles who have not emi- 
grated, and particularly the historic nobility, 
take any deep interest in the Bourbons.' Sev- 
eral others present expressed the same views. 

" The next day, upon my return to Malmai- 
son, I found Napoleon very indignant against 
Count Real ; whose motives he accused, re- 
proaching him with having employed in his 
government certain men too much compromised 
in the great excesses of the Revolution. The 
Dulce cTEnghien had heen condemned and execu- 
ted even before the announcement of his trial had 
heen communicated to Napoleon. 

" Subsequently he was convinced of the in- 
nocence of Real, and of the strange fatality 
which had caused him for a moment to appear 
culpable in his eyes. In the mean time, re- 
suming self-control, he said to me, ' Another 
opportunity has been lost. It would have 
been admirable to have had, as nid-de-camp, 



102 Joseph Bonapaete. [1803. 



statement of Joseph Bonaparte. 



the grandson of the great Conde. But of that 
there can be no more question. The blow is 
irremediable. Yes ; I was sufficiently strong 
to allow a descendant of the great Conde to 
serve in our armies. But we must seek conso- 
lation. Undoubtedly, if I had been assassina- 
ted by the agents of the family, he would haye 
been the first to have shown himself in France, 
arms in his hands. I must take the responsi- 
bility of the deed. To cast it upon others, even 
with truth, would have too much the appear- 
ance of cowardice, for me to be willing to 
do it.' 

"Napoleon," continues Joseph, "has never 
appeared with greater eclat than under these 
sad and calamitous circumstances. I only 
learned, several years afterward, in the United 
States, from Count Eeal himself, the details of 
that which passed at the time of the death of 
the Duke d'Enghien. It was at New York, in 
the year 1825, at Washington Hall, where we 
met, by an arrangement with M. Le Eay de 
Chaumont, the proprietor of some lands, a por- 
tion of which he had sold to me and to M. 
Keal, that he informed me how a simple emo- 
tion of impatience on his part had very invol- 
untarily the effect of preventing the kindly 



1803.] Joseph King of Naples. 103 

Statement of Count Real. 

feeling which the First Consul cherished in 
favor of the Duke d'Enohien. 

o 

'' M. Keal, one of the four counsellors of 
state charged with the police of France, had 
charge of the arrondissement of Paris and of 
Vincennes. A dispatch was sent to him in the 
night, informing him of the condemnation of 
the prince. The police clerk, attending in the 
chamber which opened into his apartment, had 
already awoke him twice for reasons of but lit- 
tle importance, which had quite annoyed M. 
Real. The third dispatch was therefore placed 
upon his chimney, and did not meet his eye 
until a late hour in the morning. 

" Opening it, he hastened to Malmaison, 
where he w\as preceded by an officer of the 
gendarmerie, who brought information of the 
condemnation and execution of the prince. 
The commission had judged, from the silence 
of the Government, that he was not to be par- 
doned. I need not dwell upon the regret, the 
impatience, the indignation of Napoleon." 

The crown of Lombardy was, about this 
time, offered to Joseph, which he declined, as 
he did not wish to separate himself from 
France. The kingdom of Naples was now in- 
fluenced by England to make an attack upon 



104 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Expulsion of the English. 



Napoleon. The King of Naples supposed that 
France could be easily vanquished^ with En- 
gland, Russia, Austria, and Naples making a 
simultaneous attack upon her. But tlie great 
victory of Austerlitz, which compelled Austria 
and Russia to withdraw from the coalition, 
struck the perfidious King of Naples with dis- 
may. France had done him no wrong, and 
the only apology the Neapolitan Court had for 
commencing hostilities was, that if the French 
were permitted to dethrone the Bourbons and 
to choose their own rulers, the Neapolitan 
might claim the same privilege. 

A few days after the battle of Austerlitz 
Joseph received orders from his brother to 
hasten to the Italian Peninsula, and take com- 
mand of the Army of Italy, and march upon 
Naples. The King of Naples had, in addition 
to his own troops, fourteen thousand Russians 
and several thousand English auxiliaries. Jo- 
seph placed himself at the head of forty thou- 
sand French troops, and in February, 1806, 
entered the kingdom of Naples. The Nea- 
politans could make no effectual resistance. 
Joseph soon arrived before Capua, a fortified 
town about fifteen miles north of the metropo- 
lis of the kingdom. Eight thousand of the 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 105 

Conquest of Naples. 

Neapolitan troops took refuge in the citadel, 
and made some show of resistance. The}'- 
soon, however, were compelled to surrender. 

The Neapolitan Court was in a state of 
consternation. The English precipitately em- 
barked in their ships and fled to Sicily. The 
Russians escaped to Corfu. The Court, hav- 
ing emptied the public coffers, and even the 
vaults of the bank, took refuge in Palermo, on 
the island of Sicily. The prince royal, with a 
few troops of the Neapolitan arm}^, who ad- 
hered to the old monarchy, retreated two or 
three hundred miles south, to the mountains 
of Calabria. On the 15th of February, Joseph, 
at the head of his troops, marched triumphant- 
ly into Naples. He not only encountered no 
resistance, but the population, regarding him 
as a liberator, received him with acclamations 

of joy- 
On the 30th of March, 1806, Napoleon is- 
sued a decree, declaring Joseph king of Na- 
ples. The decret was as follows : 

" Napoleon, by the grace of God and the 
constitutions, Emperor of the French and King 
of Italy, to all those to whom these presents 
come, salutation. 

•' The interests of our people, the honor of 



106 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

Debasement of the Neapolitans under the Old Eegime. 

our crown, and the tranquillity of the Conti- 
tinent of Europe requiring that we should as- 
sure, in a stable and definite manner, the lot 
of the people of Naples and of Sicily, who 
have fallen into our power by the right of con- 
quest, and who constitute a part of the grand 
empire, we declare that we recognize, as King 
of ISTaples and of Sicily, our well -beloved 
brother, Joseph Napoleon, Grand Elector of 
France. This crown will be hereditary, by 
order of primogeniture, in his descendants 
masculine, legitimate, and natural," etc. 

The former Government of Naples was de- 
tested by the whole people. The warmest ad- 
vocates of the Allies have never yet ventured 
to "Utter a word in its defense. Even the 
grandees of the realm were heartily glad to be 
rid of their dissolute, contemptible, and tyran- 
nical queen, who regarded the inhabitants of the 
kingdom but as her slaves, and the wealth of " 
the kingdom but as her personal dowry, to be 
squandered for the gratification of herself and 
her favorites. With great energy Joseph im- 
mediately commenced a reform in all the ad- 
ministrative departments. He carefully sought 
out Neapolitan citizens of integrity, intelli- 
gence, and influence, to occupy the important 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 107 

Debasement of Naples. 

public stations. Accompanied by a guard of 
chosen men, he made a tour of the country ; 
thus informing himself, by personal observa- 
tion, of the character of the inhabitants, and of 
the wants and capabilities of the kingdom. It 
was indeed a gloomy prospect of indolence 
and poverty which presented itself to his eye, 
though the climate was enchanting, with its 
genial temperature, its brilliant skies,' and its 
fertile soil. The landscape combined all the 
elements of sublimity and of beauty, with tow- 
ering mountains and lovely meadows, streams 
and lakes watering the interior, and harbors 
inviting the commerce of the world. But the 
condition of the populace was wretched in the 
extreme. - The Government, despotic and cor- 
rupt, seized all the earnings of the people, and 
consigned nearly the whole population to pen- 
ury and rags. King Ferdinand and his disso- 
lute queen, Louisa, made an effort to rouse the 
people to resist the French. Their efforts 
were, however, entirely in vain. Joseph is- 
sued the following proclamation to the Nea- 
politans, which they read with great satisfac- 
tion: 

" People of the kingdom of Naples ; the 
Emperor of the French, King of Italy, wishing 



108 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Administration of King Joseph. 



to save you from the calamities of war, hadl 
signed, with your Court, a treaty of neutrality. 
He believed that in that way he could secure 
your tranquillity, in the midst of the vast con- 
flagration with which the third coalition has 
menaced Europe. But the Court of ISTaples 
has zealously allied itself with our enemies, 
and has opened its states to the Russians and 
to the Eno'lish. 

" The Emperor of the French, whose justice 
equals his power, wishes to give a signal ex- 
ample, commanded by the honor of his crown, 
by the interests of his people, and by the ne- 
cessity of re-establishing in Europe the respect 
which is due to public faith. 

" The army which I command is on the 
march to punish this perfidy. But you, the 
people, have nothing to fear. It is not against 
you that our arms are directed. The altars, 
the ministers of your religion, your laws, your 
property, will be respected. The French sol- 
diers will be your brothers. If, contrary to 
the benevolent intentions of his majesty, the 
Court which excites you will sacrifice you, the 
French army is so powerful that all the forces 
•promised to your princes, even if they were 
on your territory, could not defend it. Peo- 



1807.] Joseph King of Naples. 100 



Embari'ussments. 



pie ! have no solicitude. This war will be for 
you the epoch of a solid peace, and of durable 
prosperity." 

Ferdinand, upon retiring to the island of 
Sicily, had swept the continental coast of ev- 
ery vessel and even boat. Joseph thus found 
it quite impossible to transport his troops 
across the strait of Messina to pursue the fugi- 
tive king. He, however, made a very thor- 
ough survey of the continental kingdom, and 
having planned many measures of internal im- 
provement of vast magnitude, which were sub- 
sequently executed, he returned to Naples. 
He was here received with congratulations by 
all classes of his subjects. 

The clergy, ied by Cardinal Euflfo, and even 
the nobility, vied with each other in their ex- 
pressions of satisfaction in a change of dynas- 
ty. The great majority of the most intelli- 
gent people in the kingdom were weary of the 
corrupt Court which, swaying the sceptre of 
feudal despotism, had consigned Naples to in- 
dolence, dilapidation, and penury. Joseph im- 
mediately selected the most distinguished Ne- 
apolitans as members of his council. He made 
every effort to introduce into his kingdom all 
the benefits which the French Revolution had 



110 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Philanthropic Labors. 



brought to France, while he carefully sought 
to avoid the evils which accompanied that 
great popular movement. 

Though Joseph soon found himself firmly 
seated on the throne, war still lingered along 
the coasts, and in the more remote parts of his 
kingdom. The fortress of Gaeta, almost im- 
pregnable, was still held by a garrison of Fer- 
dinand's troops. Marauding bands of ISTeapol- 
itans, lured by love of plunder, infested and 
pillaged the unprotected districts. The Eng- 
lish fleet was hovering along the coast, watch- 
ing for opportunities of assault. It landed an 
army at the Gulf of St. Euphemia, and dis- 
comfited a small division of Joseph's troops. 
Thus the kingdom was in a general state of 
disorder wherever the influence of Joseph was 
not sensibly felt. 

But the wise and energetic measures he 
adopted removed one after another of these 
evils. He found but little difficulty in per- 
suading all those who co-operated with him in 
the government, both French and Neapolitans, 
that the interests of each individual class in 
the community were dependent upon the eleva- 
tion and improvement of the whole . country ; 
and it is a remarkable fact that the principal 



1807.] Joseph King of Naples. Ill 

riuliinthropic Labors. 

noblemen in Naples were among the first to 
appreciate and adopt the great ideas of reform 
which Joseph introduced. Influenced by his 
arguments, they, of their own accord, relin- 
quished their feudal privileges, and adopted 
those principles of equal rights upon which the 
empire of Napoleon was founded, and which 
gave it its almost omnipotent hold upon popu- 
lar affections. Even the ecclesiastics, men of 
commandino; character and intelligence, who 
had been introduced into the Council of State, 
voted for the suppression of monastic orders, 
and for the use of their funds to place the credit 
of the kingdom upon a solid basis. 

Reform was thus extended, wisely and effi- 
ciently, through all the departments of Gov- 
ernment. And though the masses of the peo- 
ple, being illiterate peasants, incapable of any 
intelligent administration of public affairs, had 
but little voice in the Government, every thing 
was done for their welfare that enlightened 
patriotism could suggest. All writers, friends 
and foes, agree alike in their testimony to the 
wise measures adopted by Joseph. lie found- 
ed colleges for the instruction of young men, 
and many other institutions of a high charac- 
ter for male and female education. Splendid 



112 Joseph Bokaparte. [1807. 

The Lazzaroni. 

roads were constructed from one extremity of 
the kingdom to the other ; manufactories of 
various kinds were established and encour- 
aged ; the arts were rewarded ; agriculture re- 
ceived a new impulse ; the army was efficient- 
ly organized and brought under salutary dis- 
cipline ; a topographical bureau was created, 
the whole kingdom carefully surveyed, and a 
fine map constructed. The mouldering, ram- 
parts of the city were rebuilt, and new fort- 
resses reared. 

Naples had for ages been filled with a mis- 
erable idle population, called lazzaroni. They 
infested the streets and the squares, and were 
devoured by vermin, and half-covered with 
rags. With no incitement to industry, indeed 
with hardly the possibility of obtaining any 
work, they had fallen into the most abject state 
of vice and despair. These men, in large num- 
bers, were collected, comfortably clothed, well 
fed, well paid, and were employed in construct- 
ing a new and splendid avenue to the metropo- 
lis. Made happy by industry, and inspired by 
its sure reward, they became contented and use- 
ful subjects. 

The Ministry of the Interior was confided 
to Count Miot. It was his duty to devote all 



I 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 113 

Vigorous Measiares. 

his energies to promote the interests of agri- 
culture, commerce, manufactures, the arts, the 
sciences, public instruction, and all liberal in- 
stitutions. The country had been filled with 
brigands, rioting in violence, robbery, and mur- 
der. To repress their excesses, Joseph estab- 
lished a military commission with each army 
corps, whose duty it was to judge and execute, 
without appeal, the brigands taken with arms 
in their hands. 

The English fleet commanded the Mediter- 
ranean. The Neapolitan troops, under the 
command of Ferdinand, had fled to Calabria, 
and, under the protection of the English fleet, 
had crossed the straits of Messina to the island 
of Sicily. The British squadron then swept 
the coasts of Calabria, applying the torch to 
all the public property which could not be car- 
ried away. While these scenes were transpir- 
ing, Napoleon wrote to Joseph almost daily, 
giving him very minute directions. He wrote 
to him on the 12th of January, 1806 : " Speak 

seriously to M and to L , and say that 

you will have no robberies. M robbed 

much in the Venetian country. I have re- 
called S to Paris for that reason. He is a 

bad man. Maintain severe discipline." 

8 



114 . Joseph Bonapaete. [1806. 

Letters from Napoleon and others. 

Again he wrote on the 19th : " It is my in- 
tention that the Bourbons should cease to reign 
at Naples. I wish to place upon that throne a 
prince of my family ; you first, if that is agree- 
able to you ; another, if that is not agreeable 
to you. The country ought to famish food, 
clothing, horses, and every thing that is neces- 
sary for your army ; so that it shall cost me 
nothing." 

Again, on the 27th, Napoleon wrote from 
Paris : "I have only to congratulate myself 
with all that you did while you remained in 
Paris. Eeceive my thanks, and, as a testimony 
of my satisfaction, my portrait upon a snuff- 
box, which I will forward by the first officer 
I send to you. Tolerate no robbers. I have 
just received a letter from the Queen of Naples. 
I shall not reply. After the violation of the 
treaty, I can no longer trust her promises." 

Again, on the 3d of February, 1806, he 
writes : " Believe in my friendship. Do not 
listen to those who wish to keep you out of fire, 
loin du feu. It is necessary that you should 
establish your reputation, if there should be 
opportunity. Place yourself conspicuously. 
As to real danger, it is everywhere in war." 

The Prince-royal of Naples wrote a letter to 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 115 



The British Fleet. 



Josepla, with the hope of regaining his crown. 
He stated that the King and Queen had abdi- 
cated in favor of their son. Joseph rephed 
that he could not listen to the appeal ; that he 
could only execute the orders which hereceivedj 
and that the application was too late. 

The city of Gaeta was one of the strongest 
positions in Europe. The troops of Ferdinand 
maintained a siege there for many months. 
They were very efficiently aided by the British 
fleet, which brought them continual re-enforce- 
ments and supplies. Its capture was considered 
one of the most brilliant achievements in mod- 
ern warfare. There was now not a spot upon 
the Continent of Europe where a flag floated in 
avowed hostility to France. Ferdinand of Na- 
ples, with a small army, had fled to the island 
of Sicily, where, for a short time, he was pro- 
tected by the British fleet. 

In the mean time King Joseph was devoting 
himself untiringly and with great wisdom to 
the development of the new institutions of re- 
form, and of equal rights for all, which every- 
where accompanied the French banners. Mar- 
shal Massena was sent to the provinces of Cala- 
bria to put a stop to brigandage. The brigands 
were merciless. Severe reprisals became nee- 



116 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Brigandage. 



essary. The British fleet, under Sir Sidney 
Smith, hovered along the shores of the gulfs 
of Salerno and of Naples, striving to rouse and 
encourage resistance to the new Government. 

There was a renowned bandit, named Mi- 
chael Pozza, who, from his energy and atrocities, 
had acquired the sobriquet of Fra Diavolo^ or 
brother of the devil. His bands, widely scat- 
tered, were at times concentrated, and waged 
fierce battle. Grrad ually French discipline gain- 
ed upon them. Large numbers of the Neapoli- 
tans, hating the old regime, and glad to be rid 
of it, enlisted in defense of the new institutions. 
The robbers were at length cut to pieces. Fra 
Diavolo escaped to the mountains, where he 
was taken and shot. In this warfare with the 
brigands, the Neapolitan troops, emboldened by 
the presence and protection of the French army, 
displayed very commendable courage. 

While engaged in these warlike operations, 
through his able generals, Joseph was much 
occupied with the employment, more congenial 
to him, of conducting the interior administra- 
tion. It was his first endeavor to eradicate 
every vestige of the old despotism of feudalism 
— a system perhaps necessary in its day, but 
which time had outgrown. The whole politi- 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 117 



Success of the new Measures. 



cal edifice was laid upon tlie foundation of the 
absolute equality of rights of all the citizens — a 
principle until then unknown in Naples. There 
had been no gradations in society. There were 
a few families of extreme opulence, enjoying 
rank and exclusive privileges, and then came 
the almost beggared masses, with no incentives 
to exertion. The enervating climate induced 
indolence. Life could be maintained with but 
little clothing, and but little food. The cities 
and villages swarmed with half-clad multitudes, 
vegetating in a joyless existence. 

Joseph gave his earnest attention to rousing 
the multitude from this apathy. He thought 
that one of the most important means to awaken 
a love of industry was to make these poor peo- 
ple, as far as possible, landed proprietors. The 
man who owns land, though the portion may 
be small, is almost resistlessly impelled to cul- 
tivate it. His ambition being thus roused, his 
intellectual and social condition becomes amel- 
iorated, and he is prepared to take part, as a 
citizen, in the administration of affairs. A new 
division of territory was created into provinces 
and districts, in which the prominent men, who 
were imbued with the spirit of reform, were 
appointed to the administration of local inter- 



118 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Ancient Corruptions. 



ests. Still many of the old nobility struggled 
hard to maintain their feudal power. But res- 
olutely Joseph proceeded in laying the foun- 
dations of a national representation, derived 
from popular election, which should be the or- 
gan of the whole nation, to make known to the 
King the wishes and necessities of the people. 

This was an immense stride in the direction 
of a popular government. It endangered the 
feudal privilege, which upheld the throne and 
the castle, in other lands. Hence it was that 
the throne and the castle combined to over- 
throw institutions so republican in their ten- 
dencies. 

The w^hole system of administration had 
been awfully corrupt. Justice was almost un- 
known. All the tribunals were concentrated 
in the city of Naples. There were tens of 
thousands of prisoners, very many for political 
offenses, awaiting trial. In the provinces of 
Calabria Joseph appointed j udicial commissions 
to attend to these cases. In three months about 
five thousand prisoners had a hearing. Many 
of them had been detained over twenty years. 
Not a few were incarcerated through malicious 
accusations. Those guilty of some slight of- 
fense were imprisoned with assassins, all alike 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 119 



Prison Eeform. Financial Reform. 



exposed to the damp of dungeons and infected 



air. 



A system of very effective prison reform 
was immediately established by Joseph. The 
prisoners were placed in apartments large and 
well-ventilated. They were separated in ac- 
cordance with the nature of the offenses of 
which they were accused. Distinct prisons 
were appropriated to females. Hospitals were 
established for the sick of both sexes, with every 
necessary arrangement for the restoration of 
health. 

A thorough reform was introduced into the 
finances. Under the old regime, all had been 
confusion and oppression. The only object of 
the Government seemed to be to get all it could. 
In the country the people often were compel- 
led to pay their lords not only money, but also 
very onerous personal services. This was all 
remedied by the adoption of an impartial sys- 
tem of taxation. And it was found that the 
new imposts, honestly collected, were far less 
oppressive to the people, and more in amount. 
The overthrow of the feudal system placed 
at the disposal of the State a vast amount of 
land which had been uncultivated. This was 
divided among a large number of people, who 



120 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Encouragement to Education. 



paid for it an annual sum into the treasury. 
Thus the welfare of these individuals was great- 
ly promoted, and the resources of the State in- 
creased. 

And now Joseph turned his attention to 
public instruction. The last Government had 
been opposed to education. It had entered into 
open warfare against the sciences, prohibiting 
the introduction of the most important foreign 
publications. Joseph immediately established 
schools for primary instruction all over the 
realm. ISTormal schools were organized for the 
education of teachers. In the smallest hamlets 
teachers were provided to instruct the children 
in the elements of the Christian religion, and 
school-mistresses, who, in addition to the same 
lessons, were to teach the young girls the duties 
proper to their sex. 

This impulse to education spread rapidly 
through all the provinces. The free schools 
established in Naples were soon so crowded 
that it became necessary to add to their num- 
ber. The university at Naples, frowned upon 
by the former Government, had fallen into 
deep decline. Nineteen chairs of professors 
were vacant. Others were occupied, but their 
duties quite neglected. The university was 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 121 



Opposition to Reform. 



reorganized in accordance with the enlighten- 
ment of modern times. Kew professorships 
were endowed in the place of those which had 
become useless. Especial efforts were made 
to secure learned men for those chairs from 
the kingdom of Naples. But education was 
at so low an ebb that it was necessary to ob- 
tain several professors from abroad. Every- 
where a thirst for knowledge seemed to mani- 
fest itself. 

These reforms were exceedingly popular 
with the great majority of the Neapolitans. 
But there were not wanting those who opposed 
them. There were those of the privileged 
class who had been enriched by the ignorance 
and debasement of the people. These men 
began gradually to develop their opposition. 
Joseph had endeavored to employ Neapolitans 
as much as possible in the Government. He 
employed Frenchmen in the military and civil 
service only where he could find no Neapoli- 
tans equal to the post. Some of the Neapoli- 
tans, jealous of French influence, while also 
secretly clinging to ancient abuses, began cau- 
tiously the attempt to retard these reforms. 
Joseph listened patiently to their objections in 
cabinet council, and then said •• 



122 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



The Fine Arts. 



" I have carefully followed a discussion 
which relates so intimately to the public wel- 
fare. I had hoped to hear reasons. I have 
heard only passions. I look in vain for any 
indications of love of country in the objections 
to the proposed laws. I must say that I see 
only the spirit of party." 

He then examined, one by one, the objec- 
tions which had been brought forward, and 
added, " Do you think, gentlemen, that I am 
willing to sustain these exclusive privileges? 
We have not destroyed these Gothic institu- 
tions, the remnants of barbarism, in order to 
reconstruct them under other forms. And 
can any of you cherish the thought that this 
resistance, which ought to surprise me, can in- 
duce me to retrograde toward institutions con- 
demned by the spirit of the age ? ISTo ; too 
long have the people groaned under the weight 
of intolerable abuses. They shall be delivered 
from them. If obstacles arise, be assured that 
I shall know how to remove them." 

The fine arts were also languishing, with 
every thing else, under the execrable regime 
of the Bourbons of Naples. But the taste for 
the fine arts survived their decay. The new 
Government instituted schools of art under 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 123 

Monasteries. 

the direction of the most skillful masters. 
Painting, drawing, sculpture, engraving, all re- 
ceived a new impulse. 

There were difficulties to be encountered in 
this attempt to regenerate an utterly depraved 
state more than can now be easily imagined. 
He who should attempt to erect a modern man- 
sion upon the ruins of the Castle of Heidelberg 
would find more difficulty in removing the old 
foundations than in rearing the new structure. 
Thus Joseph found ancient abuses, hallowed 
by time, and oppressive institutions interwoven 
with the very life of the people, which it was 
necessary utterly to abolish or greatly to modi- 
fy. The monastic institution, was one of these. 
The land was filled with gloomy monasteries, 
crowded with idle, useless, and often dissolute 
monks. There had been in past ages seasons 
of persecution, in which the refuge of these 
sanctuaries was needed, but the spirit of the 
age no longer required them. They had ren- 
dered signal service in times of barbarism, but 
it was no longer needful for religion to hide in 
the obscurity of the cloister. 

" Altars," said Joseph, " are now erected in 
the interior of families. The regular clergy 
respond to the wants of the people. The love 



124 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

Debate in the Council. 

of the arts and of the sciences, widely dif- 
fused, and the colonial, commercial, and mili- 
tary spirit constrain all the Governments of 
Europe to direct to important objects the gen- 
ius, activity, and pecuniary resources of their 
nations. The support of considerable land 
and sea forces involves the necessity of great 
reforms in other departments of the general 
economy of the State. The first duty of peo- 
ples and princes is to place themselves in a 
condition of defense against the aggressions of 
their enemies. Still we do not forget that we 
ought to reconcile these principles with the 
respect with which we should cherish those 
celebrated places which, in barbaric ages, pre- 
served the sacred fire of reason, and which be- 
came the depot of human knowledge." 

The debates upon this subject in the Coun- 
cil of State were long and animated. The 
peasantry, ignorant and superstitious, clung to 
their old prejudices, and could not easily throw 
aside the shackles of ages. Many of these re- 
ligious communities were wealthy, the recipi- 
ents of immense sums bequeathed to them by 
the dying. There was no legal right, no right 
but that of revolution and the absolute neces- 
sities of the State, for wresting this property 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 125 



Reform of Monastic Institutions. 



from them. But it was manifest to every in- 
telligent mind that the ISTeapolitan kingdom 
could never emerge from the stagnation of 
semi-barbarism without the entire overthrow 
of many, and the radical reform of the remain- 
der of these institutions. 

At length a law, very carefully matured, 
was enacted, suppressing a large number of 
these religious orders, and introducing essen- 
tial changes into those which were permitted 
to survive. The possessions of those which 
were abolished, generally consisting of large 
tracts of land, reverted to the State, and were 
sold at auction in small farms. The money 
thus raised helped replenish the bankrupt 
treasury. The poor monks, expelled from 
their cells, with no habits of industry, and no 
means of obtaining a support, received a life 
pension, amounting to a little more than one 
hundred dollars a year. 

The three abbeys of Mount Cassin, Cava, 
and Monte Yergin^ contained very consider- 
able libraries, and were the depots of impor- 
tant records and manuscripts. These were in- 
trusted to the keeping of a select number of 
the most intelligent monks. It was their duty 
to arrange and catalogue the books and manu- 



126 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

Ecclesiastical Reforms. 

scripts, and to search out those works which 
could throw light upon the sciences, the arts, 
and the past history of the realm. They re- 
tained the buildings, the necessary furniture, 
and received a small additional stipend. 

There were some passes through the mount- 
ains which were perilous in the winter season. 
Upon these bleak eminences houses of refuge 
were erected, to shelter travellers and to help 
them on their way. In each of these twenty- 
five mon*ks were placed. Their labors were 
arduous, as often all the necessaries of life had 
to be brought upon their backs from the plains 
below. They received a frugal but comfort- 
able support. 

The salaries of the hard-working clergy 
were increased. The vases and ornaments 
from the suppressed convents were distributed 
among those poorer parishes which were in a 
state of destitution. The furniture of the con- 
vents was transferred to the civil and militarv 
hospitals. The pictures, bas-reliefs, statuary, 
and other objects of art were collected for the 
national museum which the King wished to 
establish. The mendicant friars, who had suf- 
ficient education, were intrusted with the in- 
struction of the children. 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 127 

New Public Works. 

The number of priests under tlie old re- 
gime had increased to a degree entirely dis- 
proportioned to the wants of the community. 
They were consequently wretchedly poor. A 
fixed salary was assigned to the rectors, that 
they might live respectably, and the ordina- 
tions in each diocese were so regulated that 
there should be but one priest for about one 
thousand souls. 

It is not to be supposed that such changes 
could be effected without much friction. Not 
only bigotry opposed them, but there was a 
deep-seated, though unintelligent religious sen- 
timent, which remonstrated against them. The 
advocates of the old regime availed themselves, 
in every possible way, of this sentiment, while 
the British fleet, continually hovering around 
the coasts, and occasionally landing men at 
unguarded points, contributed much toward 
keeping the spirit of insurrection alive, and 
preventing the tranquillity of the country. 

New public works were commenced in the 
capital, to employ the idle and starving multi- 
tudes there. The country roads, so long in- 
fested with robbers, were in a wretched condi- 
tion. The entire stagnation of all internal com- 
merce had left them unused and almost im- 



128 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

New Public Works. 

passable. The old roads were repaired, and 
new ones vigorously opened. The inhabitants 
of the provinces, and even the soldiers who 
could be conveniently spared, were employed 
in these enterprises. The soldiers, receiving 
slight additional pay, cheerfully contributed 
their labors. French officers of engineers, of 
established ability, superintended these nation- 
al works. 

King Joseph was but the agent of his broth- 
er IN'apoleon. Though himself a man of supe- 
rior ability, and imbued with an ardent spirit 
of humanity, in these great enterprises he was 
carrying out the designs with which the im- 
perial mind of his brother was inspired. Thus 
the kingdom of Naples, in a few months, under 
the reign of Joseph, made more progress than 
had been accomplished in scores of years un- 
der the dominion of the Neapolitan Bourbons. 

On the 8th of May, 1806, Joseph wrote 
to Napoleon: "My previous letters have an- 
nounced to your Majesty that perfect order is 
restored in the Calabrias. I am not less pleased 
with the inhabitants of Apulia. They are 
more enlightened, less passionate, but equally 
zealous with the Calabrians to withdraw their 
country from the debasement into which it is 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 129 

Eeport of Joseph to the Emperor. 

plunged. I am particularly satisfied witb. the 
priests, the nobles, and the landed proprietors.! 

" I now fully recognize the justice of the 
principles which I have so often heard from 
the lips of your Majesty. And I confess that 
experience has proved to me how true it is 
that it is necessary to see to every thing one's 
self; that not a moment of time must ever be 
lost ; that we can not rely upon the activity 
of any person, and that every thing is possible, 
with a determined will on the part of the chief. 
T say to myself, ten times a day, the Emperor 
was right. 

" I have established in each province a 
president, or prefect, who is entirely independ- 
ent of the military commandant. I have de- 
creed the formation in each province of a 
legion whose organization I will soon send to 
your Majesty. It is not paid. It is command- 
ed by those men who are the most opulent, 
the most respectable, and the most attached to 
the present order of things. In each province 
I form a company of gendarmerie, composed 
of Frenchmen and Neapolitans. It is with 
some pride that I see that all the measures 
which your Majesty has prescribed to me I 
have adopted in advance. 

9 



130 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Letter from Napoleon. 



" Whatever I may saj, your Majesty can 
,form no conception of the state of oppression, 
barbarism, and debasement which existed in 
this realm. And I can assure your Majesty 
that the Keapolitan officers returning to their 
homes become well pleased in witnessing the 
spirit which animates their fellow-citizens. I 
derive much advantage from the knowledge I 
have of the language, the manners, and cus- 
toms of the country. The inhabitants of the 
mountains and of the villages resemble closely 
those of Corsica. And I do not think that I 
can be mistaken when I assure your Majesty 
that the people regard themselves as happy in 
being governed by a man who is so nearly re- 
lated to your Majesty, and who bears a name 
which your Majesty rendered illustrious before 
he became an emperor, and which has for them 
the advantage of being Italian." 

On the 22d of June, 1806, Napoleon wrote 
to Joseph, " My Brother— the Court of Eome 
is entirely surrendered to folly. It refuses to 
recognize you, and I know not what sort of a 
treaty it wishes to make with me. It thinks 
that I can not unite profound respect for the 
spiritual authority of the Pope, and at the same 
time repel his tem|)oral pretensions. It forgets 



1806.] Joseph King of Naples. 131 



Letter from Meneval. 



that Saint Louis, whose piety is well known, 
was almost always at war with the Pope, and 
that Charles Y., who was a very Christian 
prince, held Eome besieged for a long time, 
and seized it, with every Eoman state." 

On the 28th of February, 1806, M. de Me- 
neval, the Emperor's secretary, had written to 
Joseph, "The Emperor works prodigiously. 
He holds three or four councils every day, from 
eight o'clock in the morning, when he rises, 
until two or three o'clock in the morning, 
when he goes to bed." 

Napoleon well knew the fickle, unreliable, 
debased character of the Italian populace. He 
was sure that Joseph, in the kindness of his 
heart, was too confiding and unsuspicious. He 
wrote reiteratedly upon this subject : " Put it 
in your calculations," said he, "that sooner or 
later you will have an insurrection. It is an 
event which always happens in a conquered 
country. You can never sustain yourself by 
opinion in such a city as ISTapleSo Be sure that 
you will have a riot or an insurrection. I 
earnestly desire to aid you by my experience 
in such matters. Shoot pitilessly the lazzaroni 
who plunge the dagger. I am greatly sur- 
prised that you do not shoot the spies of the 



132 Joseph BonapartEo [1806. 



Letter from Napoleon. 



King of Naples. Your administration is too 
feeble. I can not conceive why you do not 
execute the laws. Every spy should be shot. 
Every lazzaroni who plies the dagger should 
be shot. You attach too much importance to 
a populace whom two or three battalions and 
a few pieces of artillery will bring to reason. 
They will never be submissive until they rise 
in insurrection, and you make a severe exam- 
ple. The villages which revolt should be sur- 
rendered to pillage. It is not only the right 
of war, but policy requires it. Your govern- 
ment, my brother, is not sufficiently vigorous. 
You fear too much to indispose people. You 
are too amiable, and have too much confidence 
in the JSTeapolitans. This system of mildness 
will not avail you. Be sure of that. I truly 
desire that the mob of Naples should revolt. 
Until you make an example, you will not be 
master. With every conquered people a re- 
volt is a necessity. I should regard a revolt 
in Naples as the father of a family regards the 
small-pox for his children. Provided it does 
not weaken the invalid too much, it is a salu- 
tary crisis." 

Such were the precautions which Napoleon 
was continually sending to Joseph. His amia- 



1806.] Joseph King of ISTapleSo 183 

Letter from Joseph to his Wife. 

ble brother did not sufficiently heed them. He 
fancied that the most ignorant, fanatical, and 
debased of men could be held in control by 
kind words and kind deeds alone. But he 
awoke fearfully to the delusion when a savage 
insurrection broke out among the peasants and 
the brigands of the Galabrias, and swept the 
provinces with flame and blood. Then scenes 
of woe ensued which can never be described. 
It became necessary to resort to the severest 
acts of punishment. Much, -if not all of this, 
might have been saved had the firm govern- 
ment which Kapoleon recommended been es- 
tablished at the beginning. It is cruelty, not 
kindness, to leave the mob to feel that they 
can inaugurate their reign of terror with im- 
punity. 

The following extracts from a letter which 
Joseph wrote his wife, dated Naples, March 
22d, 1806, throw interesting light upon the 
characters of both the King and the Emperor. 

*'I repeat it, the Emperor ought not to re- 
main alone in Paris. Providence has made 
me expressly to serve as his safeguard. Lov- 
ing repose, and yet able to support activity; 
despising grandeurs, and yet able to bear their 
burden with success, whatever may have been 



134 Joseph Bonapaete, [1806. 



Letter from Joseph to his Wife. 



the slight differences between him and me, I 
can truly say that he is the man of all the 
world whom I love the best. I do not know 
if a climate and shores very much resembling 
those which I inhabited with him, have given 
back to me all my first love for the friend of 
my childhood ; but I can truly say that I often 
find myself weeping over the affections of 
twenty years' standing as over those of but a 
few months. 

"If you can not come to me immediately, 
send Zenaide.^ I would give all the empires 
of the world for one caress of my tall Zenaide, 
or for one kiss of my little Lolotte. As for 
you, you know very well that I love you as 
their mother, and as I love my wife. If I can 
unite a dispersed family and live in the bosom 
of my own, I shall be content ; and I will sur- 
render myself to fulfill all the missions which 
the Emperor may assign to me, provided they 
can be temporary, and that I may cherish the 
hope of dying in a country in which I have al- 
ways wished to live." 

^ Zena'ide and Lolotte (Charlotte), the two daughters of 
Joseph. 



1806.] The Crown a Burden. 135 

Jena and Auerstadt. Death of Fox. 



CHAPTER y. 

THE CROWN A BURDEN. 

THE close of the year 1806 was rendered 
memorable by the victories of Jena and 
Auerstadt, and the occupation of Prussia by 
the armies of Napoleon. The war was wan- 
tonly provoked by Prussia. Napoleon wrote 
to Joseph from St. Cloud, on the 13th of Sep- 
tember : 

" Prussia makes me a thousand protestations. 
That does not prevent me from taking my pre- 
cautions. In a few days she will disarm, or 
she will be crushed. Austria protests her wish 
to remain neutral. Russia knows not what she 
wishes. Her remote position renders her pow- 
erless. Thus, in a few words, you have the 
present aspect of affairs." 

A few days after he wrote again to Joseph 
from St. Cloud: "My Brother, — I have just 
received the tidings that Mr. Fox is dead. Un- 
der present circumstances, he is a man who dies 
regretted by two nations. The horizon is some^ 



136 Joseph'^Bonaparte. [1806. 

England's 'New Alliance. 

what clouded in Europe. It is possible that I 
may soon come to blows with the King of 
Prussia. If matters are not soon arranged, the 
Prussians will be so beaten in the first encoun- 
ters, that every thing will be finished in a few 
days." 

Napoleon cautioned his brother against 
making the contents of his letters known to 
others, saying, " I repeat to you, that if this let- 
ter is read by others than yourself, 3^ou injure 
your own affairs. I am accustomed to think 
three or four months in advance of what I do, 
and I make arrangements for the worst." 

England, Eussia, and Prussia entered into a 
new alliance to crush the Empire in France. 
The armies of Prussia, two hundred thousand 
strong, commenced their march by entering 
Saxony, one of the allies of Napoleon. Alex- 
ander of Eussia was hastening to join Prus- 
sia, with two hundred thousand men in his 
train. England was giving the most energetic 
co-operation with her invincible fleet and her 
almost inexhaustible gold. Upon the eve of 
this terrible conflict, Napoleon, in the follow- 
ing terms, addressed Europe, to which address 
no reply was returned but that of shot and 
shell. 



I 



1806.] The Crown a Burden. 137 

Napoleon's Address to Europe. 

"Why should hostilities arise between 
France and Eussia? Perfectly independent 
of each other, they are impotent to inflict evil, 
but all-powerful to communicate benefits. If 
the Emperor of France exercises a great influ- 
ence in Italy, the Czar exerts a still greater in- 
fluence over Turkey and Persia. If the Cabi- 
net of Eussia pretends to have a right to affix 
limits to the power of France, without doubt it 
is equally disposed to allow the Emperor of the 
French to prescribe the bounds beyond which 
Eussia is not to pass. 

"Eussia has partitioned Poland. Can she 
then complain that France possesses Belgium 
and the left banks of the Ehine ? Eussia has 
seized upon the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the 
northern provinces of Persia. Can she deny 
that the right of self-preservation gives France 
a title to demand an equivalent in Europe. 
Let every power begin by restoring the con- 
quests which it has made during the last fifty 
years. Let them re-establish Poland, restore 
Venice to its Senate, Trinidad to Spain, Ceylon 
to Holland, the Crimea to the Porte, the Cau- 
casus and Greorgia to Persia, the kingdom of 
Mysore to the sons of Tippoo Saib, and the 
Mahratta States to their lawful owners, and 



138 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

Views of the Emperor. Message to the Senate. 

then the other powers may have some title to 
insist that France shall retire within her an- 
cient limits." 

It was important to prevent the union of 
these mighty hosts, now combined to overthrow 
the new system in France. As ISTapoleon left 
Paris, to strike the Prussian army before it 
could be strengthened by the arrival of the 
Eussians, he wrote to Joseph : 

"Grive yourself no uneasiness. The present 
struggle will be speedily terminated. Prussia 
and her allies, be they who they may, will be 
crushed. And this time I will settle finally 
with Europe. I will put it out of the power 
of my enemies to stir for ten years." 

In his parting message to the Senate, he 
said, "In so just a war, which we have not 
provoked by any act, by any pretense, the true 
cause of which it would be impossible to as- 
sign, and where we only take arms to defend 
ourselves, we depend entirely upon the support 
of the laws, and upon that of the people, whom 
circumstances call upon to give fresh proof of 
their devotion and courage." 

The Prussian army was overwhelmed at 
Jena and Auerstadt, and then ISTapoleon, press- 
ing on to the north, met the Eussians at Fried- 



1806.] The Crown a Burden. 139 

Fearful Outrages in Calabria, Advice of Napoleon. 

land, and annihilated their forces also. The 
atrocities perpetrated by the Italian bandits 
were so terrible, that the exasperated soldiers 
often retaliated with fearful severity. Joseph, 
by nature a very humane man, endeavored in 
every way in his power to mitigate this ferocity. 
The revolt in Calabria was attended with almost 
every conceivable act of perfidy and cruelty. 
The wounded French were butchered in the hos- 
pitals; the dwellings of Neapolitans friendly 
to the new government were burnt, and their 
families outraged ; treachery of the vilest kind 
was perpetrated by those acting under the mask 
of friendship. The crisis, which Napoleon had 
been continually anticipating and warning his 
brother against, had come. The case demanded 
rigorous -measures. It was necessary to the 
very existence of the Government that it should 
prove, by avenging crime, that it was deter- 
mined to protect the innocent. Still the amiable 
Joseph was disposed to leniency. ISTapoleon 
wrote him: 

" The fate of your reign depends upon your 
conduct when you return to Calabria. There 
must be no forgiveness. Shoot at least six 
hundred rebels. They have murdered more 
soldiers than that. Burn the houses of thirty 



140 



Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 



Ad vice of Napoleon. ^^ Tj^^ j^^gU^j^ ^^^^^^ 

. of the principal persons in the villages, and 
distribute their property among the soldiers. 
Take away all arms from the inhabitants, and 
give up to pillage -^ve or six of the large vil- 
lages. When Placenza rebelled, I ordered Ju- 
not to burn two villages and shoot the chiefs, 
among whom were six priests. It will be some 
time before they rebel again." 

Where there is this energy to punish crime, 
the good repose in safety. This apparent in- 
humanity may be, with a ruler who has mil- 
lions to protect, the highest degree of humani- 
ty. When a lawless mob is rioting through 
the streets of a city, robbing, burning, murder- 
ing, it is not well for the Government affection- 
ately to address them with soothing words. It 
is far more humane to mow down the insur- 
gents with grape and canister. 

The English fleet still menaced and assailed 
the kingdom of Naples at every available 
point. It held possession of the island of Ca- 
pin, near the mouth of tlie gulf of Naples. 
There was a Neapolitan, by the name of Yec- 
chioni, who had professed the warmest attach- 
ment to the new government, and whom Jo- 
seph had appointed as one of his counsellors 
of state. This man entered into a conspiracy 



1806.] The Crown a Burden. 141 

Testimony of Napoleon at Saint Helena. 



with the English, to betray to them the King 
to whom he had perfidiously sworn allegiance. 
His treason was clearly proved. But he was 
an old man. His life had hitherto been pure. 
The tender heart of Joseph could not bear to 
inflict upon him merited punishment. He said 
compassionately, " The poor old man has suf- 
fered enough already. Let him go." To gov- 
ern an ignorant, fanatical, and turbulent nation 
swarming with brigands, requires a character 
of stern mould. But for the energies commu- 
r^ated to Joseph by Napoleon, Joseph could 
not long have retained his throne. The Em- 
peror at Saint Helena, speaking of his brother, 
said: 

"Joseph rendered me no assistance, but he 
is a very good man. His wife, Queen Julia, 
is the most amiable creature that ever existed. 
Joseph and I were always attached to each 
other, and kept on good terms. He loves me 
sincerely, and I doubt not that he would do 
every thing in the world to serve me ; but his 
qualities are only suited to private life. He is 
"^ of a gentle and kind disposition, possesses tal- 
ent and information, and is altogether a most 
amiable man. In the discharge of the high 
duties which I confided to him, he did the best 



142 Joseph Bonaparte. [1806. 

The Napoleon Brothers and Sisters. 

he could. His intentions were good, and there- 
fore the principal fault rested not so much with 
him as with me, who raised him above his 
proper sphere. When placed in important 
circumstances, he found himself unequal to the 
task imposed upon him." 

On another occasion, the Emperor at Saint 
Helena, speaking of the different members of 
his family, said, " In their mistaken notions 
of independence, the members of mj family 
sometimes seemed to consider their power as 
detached, forgetting that they were merely 
parts of a great whole, whose views and inter- 
ests they should have aided, instead of oppo- 
sing. But, after all, they were very young and 
inexperienced, and were surrounded by snares, 
flatterers, and intriguers with secret and evil 
designs. 

''And yet, if we judge from analogy, what 
family, in similar circumstances, would have 
acted better?. Every one is not qualified to 
be a statesman. That requires a combination 
of powers that does not often fall to the lot of 
one. In this respect, all my brothers are sin- 
gularly situated. They possessed at once too 
much and too little taleat. They felt them- 
selves too strong to resign themselves blindly 



1806.] The Crown a Burden. 143 

The Napoleon Brothers and Sisters. 

to a guiding counsellor, and yet too weak to be 
left entirely to themselves. But, take them all 
in all, I have certainly good reason to be proud 
of my family. 

"Joseph would have been an ornament to 
society in any country; and Lucien would 
have been an honor to any political assembly. 
Jerome, as he advanced in life, would have de- 
veloped every qualification requisite in a sove- 
reign. Louis would have been distinguished 
in every rank and condition in life. My sister 
Eliza was endowed with masculine powers of 
mind ; sh*e must have proved herself a philoso- 
pher in her adverse fortune. Caroline possess- 
ed great talents and capacity. Pauline, per- 
haps the most beautiful woman of her age, has 
been, and will continue to be to the end of her 
life, the most amiable creature in the world. 
As to my mother, she deserves all kind of 
veneration. 

" How seldom is so numerous a family en- 
titled to so much praise? Add to this that, 
setting aside the jarring of political opinions, 
we sincerely loved each other. For my part, 
I never ceased to cherish fraternal affection 
for them all ; and I am convinced that, in their 
hearts, they felt the same sentiments toward 



144 Joseph Bonapaete. [1806. 

The Royal Academy of History and Antiquities. 

me, and that, in case of need, they would have 
given me proof of it." 

The soil of Italy presented widely, upon its 
surface, impressive monuments of the past. 
The grand memories inspired by these crea- 
tions of olden time tended to arouse the slug- 
gish spirit of the degenerate moderns. To pro- 
mote these ennobling studies, and to increase 
the taste for the fine arts, Joseph established 
" The Eoyal Academy of History and Antiq- 
uities." The number of members was fixed 
at forty. The King appointed the first twenty 
members, and they nominated, for his appoint- 
ment, the rest. A museum was formed for 
the collection of antique works of art found in 
the excavations. An annual fund, of about 
ten thousand dollars, was appropriated to the 
expenses of the institution. Two grand ses- 
sions were to be held each year, at which time 
prizes were awarded by the Academy to the 
amount of about two thousand dollars for the 
most important literary works which had been 
produced. The first sessions were held in the 
hall of the palace. The King wished thus to 
manifest his interest in the objects of the 
Academy, to co-operate in their labors, and to 
avail himself of the advantages of their re- 



1807.] The Crown a Burden, 145 

Relations between Napoleon and Joseph. 

searcties. The clergy, and the medical and 
legal professions, were alike represented in this 
learned body. 

It is an interesting fact, illustrative of the 
state of learning at the time, that of the twen- 
ty academicians first appointed by the King, 
eleven were ecclesiastics. Two only were no- 
bles. This class, rioting in sensual indulgence, 
disdained any intellectual labor. Notwith- 
standing all these expenses, such system and 
economy were introduced into the finances, 
that they were rapidly becoming extricated 
from the chaos in which they had long been 
plunged. 

In the midst of these incessant and diversi- 
fied labors, letters were almost daily passing 
between Joseph and his brother the Emperor. 
On the first day of the year 1807, Napoleon 
was, with his heroic and indomitable army, far 
away amidst the frozen wilds of Poland. Jo- 
seph sent a special deputation to his brother, 
with earnest wishes for '' a happy new year." 
Napoleon thus replied, under the date of "War- 
saw, January 28, 1807 : 

" My Brother, — I have not received the 
letter of your Majesty and his wishes for my 
happiness without lively emotion. Your des- 

10 



146 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 

Relations between Napoleon and Joseph. 

tinies and my successes have placed a vast 
country between us. You touch, on the south, 
the Mediterranean. I touch the Baltic. But, 
by the harmony of our measures, we are seek- 
ing the same object. Watch over your coasts ; 
shut out the English and their commerce. 
Their exclusion will secure tranquillity in your 
states. Your realm is rich and populous. By 
the aid of God it may become powerful and 
happy. Eeceive my most sincere wishes for 
the prosperity of your reign, and rely at all 
times upon my fraternal affection. The depu- 
tation which your Majesty has sent to me has 
honorably fulfilled its mission. I have re- 
quested it to bear to your Majesty the assur- 
ance of my sincere attachment. Whereupon, 
my brother, I pray that God may ever have 
you in his holy and worthy keeping." 

Some reference was made in one of Joseph's 
letters to the sufferings which the army in ISTa- 
ples endured. ISTapoleon replied, "The mem- 
bers of my staff, colonels, officers, have not 
undressed for two months, and some for four. 
(I myself have been fifteen days without tak- 
ing off my boots), in the midst of snow and 
mud, without bread, without wine, without 
brandy, eating potatoes and meat; making 



1807.] The Crown a Burden. 147 

Relations between Napoleon and Joseph. 

long marches and counter-marches, without 
any kind of rest; fighting with the bayonet, 
and very often under grapeshot : the wounded 
being borne on sledges in the open air one 
hundred and fifty miles. 

" It is then ill-timed pleasantry to compare 
us with the Army of Naples, which is making 
war in the beautiful country of ISTaples, where 
they have bread, oil, cloth, bedclothes, society, 
and even that of the ladies. After having de- 
stroyed the Prussian monarchy, we are now 
contending against the rest of the Prussians, 
against the Eussians, the Cossacks, the Cai- 
rn ucks, and against those tribes of the north 
which formerly overwhelmed the Eoman em- 
pire. In the midst of these great fatigues, 
every body has been more or less sick. As 
for me, I was never better, and am gaining 
flesh. 

" The Army of Naples has no occasion to 
complain. Let them inquire of General Ber- 
thier. He will tell them that their Emperor 
has for fifteen days eaten nothing but pota- 
toes and meat, whilst bivouacking in the midst 
of the snows of Poland. Judge from that 
what must be the condition of the officers. 
They have nothing but meat." 



148 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Letter from Joseph. 



On the 26tli of March, 1807, Joseph wrote, 
in a letter to his brother Napoleon, urging the 
promotion of Colonel Destrees, who, by his 
probity, had won the affections of the people. 

" Here, sire, an honest man is worth more 
to me than a man of ability. When I find 
both qualities united in the same person, I es- 
teem him of more value than a regiment. It 
is for this reason that I value so highly Rey- 
nier, Partouneaux, Donzelot, Lamarque, Jour- 
dan, Saligny, and Mathieu ; it is this which 
leads me to prize so highly Roederer and Du- 
mas." 

Again he wrote to his brother on the 29th 
of March: "Sire, as I see more of men and 
become better acquainted with them, I recog- 
nize more and more the truth of what I have 
heard from your Majesty during the whole of 
my life. The experience of government has 
confirmed the truth of that which your Majesty 
has so often said to me. I hope your Majesty 
•will not regard this as flattery. But it is true ; 
and I never cease to repeat, and particularly to 
myself, that you have been born with a su- 
pferiority of reason truly astonishing, and now 
I recognize fully that men are what you have 
always told me that they were. How many 



1807.] The Crown a Bueden. 149 

Frank Admissions and Advice of Joseph, 

abuses, wMch I confess still astonish me, have 
I encountered, in the journey which I have 
just made. A prince confiding and amiable 
is a great scourge from heaven. I am in- 
structed, sire, and I hope ere long to be a bet- 
ter ruler by not giving the majority of men 
the credit for that spirit of justice and human- 
ity which I hope .your Majesty recognizes in 
me. I have assembled the notables of this 
province. How docile these people are! but 
they are very badly governed. I have dis- 
missed the prefect, the sub-prefect, the general, 
the commandant, a set of rascals who were 
here the instruments and the agents of an hon- 
est prince. This province, the most tranquil 
in the realm, had become, in the opinion of 
notables, the most disaffected and the most 
ready to desire the arrival of the enemy. I 
journeyed from village to village, and speedily 
repaired the evil. These people have so much 
vivacity of spirit and ardor of soul, that both 
good and evil operate easily upon them. Their 
inconstancy is not so much the result of their 
character as of their topographical and milita- 
ry position. 

*' I am aware, sire, that I have not, as your 
Majesty has, the art of employing all kinds of 



Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. ^ 



150 

Frank Admissions and Advice of Joseph. 

men. I need honest men, in whom I can re- 
pose some confidence. Sire, I am in that mood 
of mind, which your Majesty recognizes in 
me, in which I love to say whatever I think 
right. Your Majesty ought to make peace at 
whatever price. Your Majesty is victorious, 
triumphant everywhere. You ought to recoil 
before the blood of your people. It is for the 
prince to hold back the hero. No extent of 
country, be it more or less, should restrain you. 
All the concessions you may make will be 
glorious, because they will be useful to your 
peoples, whose purest blood now flows ; and 
victorious and invincible as you are, by the ad- 
mission of all, no condition can be supposed to 
be prescribed to you by an enemy whom you 
have vanquished. 

" Sire, it is the love which I bear for a 
brother who has become a father to me, and 
the love which I owe to France and to the 
people whom you have given me, which dic- 
tates these words of truth. As for me, sire, I 
shall be happy to do whatever may be in my 
power to secure that end." 

This strain of remark must have been not a 
little annoying to the Emperor. While Jo- 
seph did not deny that the Emperor was wa- 



1807.] The Crown a Burden. 151 

Tacit Reproaches and Response. 

ging war solely in self-defense, he assumed that 
he was now so powerful that he could make 
peace at any time upon his own terms. But 
dynastic Europe was allying itself, coalition 
after coalition, in an interminable series, with 
the avowed object of driving Napoleon from 
the throne, reinstating the Bourbons, re-estab- 
lishing the old feudal despotisms, and of then 
overthrowing the regenerated kingdoms of 
Italy and of Naples, and all the other popular 
governments established under the protection 
of Napoleon. Against these foes the Emperor 
was contending, not for France alone, but for 
the rights of humanity throughout Europe and 
the world. As Napoleon left Paris for the 
campaigns of Jena and Auerstadt, he said to 
the Senate, 

" In so just a war, which we have not pro- 
voked by any act, by any pretense, the true 
cause to which it would be impossible to as- 
sign, and where we only take up arms to de- 
fend ourselves, we depend entirely upon the 
support of the laws and of the people." 

No man could deny the truth of this state- 
ment. Napoleon was driven to all the rigors 
of a winter's campaign in the wilds of Poland. 
To have received, by the side of his bleak bi- 



152 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Tacit Reproaches and Eesponse. 



vouac, whilst thus struggling to defend the 
rights of humanity throughout Europe, a let- 
ter from his amiable brother, written in such a 
strain of implied reproach, must have been ex- 
tremely annoying. One would look for an out- 
burst of indignation in response. We turn to 
the Emperor's reply. It was as follows : 

" My Brother, — I have received your letter 
of the 29th of March, and I thank you for all 
that you have said. Peace is a marriage which 
depends upon a union of wills. If it be neces- 
sary still to wage war, I am in a condition to 
do so. You will see, by my message to the 
Senate, that I am about to raise additional 
troops." 

Joseph had expressed the. opinion that the 
Neapolitans truly loved him. Napoleon, in his 
reply, said, 

" I am not of the opinion that the Neapoli- 
tans love you. It is all resolved to this. If 
there were not a French soldier in Naples, 
could you raise there thirty thousand men to 
defend you against the English and the par- 
tisans of the Queen ? As the contrary is evi- 
dent to me, I can not think as you do. Your 
people will love you undoubtedly, but it will 
be after eight or ten years, when they will tru- 



1807.] The Crown a Burden. 153 

Animadversions of the Emperor. 

ly know you, and you will know them. To 
love, with the people, means to esteem ; and 
they esteem their prince when he is feared by 
the bad, and when the good have such confi- 
dence in him that he can, under all circum- 
stances, rely upon their fidelity and their aid." 
In a letter to Joseph, written a few days be- 
fore this, the Emperor made the following 
striking remarks : " Since you wish me to 
speak freely of what is done at Naples, I will 
say to you that I was not just pleased with 
the preamble to the supression of the convents. 
In referring to religion, the language should 
be in the spirit of religion, and not in that of 
philosophy. Why do you speak of the serv- 
ices rendered to the arts and the sciences by 
the religious orders ? It is not that which has 
rendered them commendable ; it is the admin- 
istration of the consolations of religion. The 
preamble is entirely philosophical, and I think 
that it should not be so. It ought to have 
been said that the great number of the monks 
rendered their support difiicult ; that the dig- 
nity of the State required that they should be 
maintained in a condition of respectability : 
hence the necessity for reform, that a portion 
of the clergy must be retained for the admin- 



154: Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Domestic Affections of Joseph. 



istration of the sacraments, that others must 
be dismissed. I give this as a general prin- 
ciple." 

Joseph was well aware how difficult it is 
for truth to reach the steps of the throne. In 
his tour through the provinces, he often, on 
foot, penetrated the crowd which surrounded 
him, and conversed with any one whose intel- 
ligence attracted his attention. He listened to 
every well-founded complaint, and avowed 
himself deeply moved in view of the oppres- 
sion which the people had suffered even from 
his own agents. But for this personal observa- 
tion, he would have remained in ignorance of 
these wrongs which he promptly and vigor- 
ously repressed. Joseph was a man of the 
purest morals, and, as a husband and father, 
was a model of excellence. While engaged in 
these labors at Naples, his wife, Julie, who was 
in delicate health, remained in Paris, occupy- 
ing the palace of the Luxembourg. They ex- 
changed daily letters. The following extract 
from one of Joseph's letters, written on the 
26th of April, 1807, will give the reader some 
insight to the nature of this correspondence, 
and to the heart of Joseph. 

" My dear Julie, — I have received no let- 






J 



'f*^^ 



^"^ i 








1807.] The Ceown a Bueden. 157 

Letter to Julie. 

ter from you to-daj. I pray you not to fail to 
write to me. I can not but feel anxious when 
I receive no letter, since your correspondence 
is otherwise regular. I wrote you yesterday 
of the rumors which malevolence had set in 
circulation, but that facts will gradually de- 
stroy them. I can give you the positive assur- 
ance that you need have no solicitude upon 
that point. 

" I have come to pass Sunday here. It is 
somewhat remarkable that fete daj^s are the 
seasons which I choose for a little recreation. 
This shows with what constancy I am em- 
ployed on other days in the labors of the Cab- 
inet. Moreover, the response to every accu- 
sation is the result which has already been at- 
tained here. Notes upon the Bank of Naples, 
which were twenty-five per cent, below par 
when I came here, are now at par. I have, 
with my own resources, conducted the war and 
the siege pf Gaeta, which has cost six millions 
of francs ($1,200,000) ; I have found the means 
to support and pay ninety thousand men, for I 
have, besides sixty thousand land soldiers, thir- 
ty thousand men as marines, invalids, pension- 
ers of the ancient army, coast guards, shore 
gunners ; and I have fifteen hundred leagues 



158 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 

Letter to Julie. 

of coast, all beset, blockaded, and often attack- 
ed by the enemy. 

" With all this, I have not so much increased 
the taxes as to excite the discontent of the 
landed proprietors and the people. There is 
so little dissatisfaction that I can travel almost 
anywhere alone without imprudence ; that Na- 
ples is as tranquil as Paris ; that I can borrow 
here whatever one has to lend ; that I have not 
a single class of society discontented ; and it is 
generally admitted that if I do not do better it 
is not my fault ; that I set the example of mod- 
eration, of economy ; that I indulge in no lux- 
uries ; that I make no expenses for myself ; 
that I have neither mistresses, minions, nor fa- 
vorites; that no person leads me, and, indeed, 
that every thing is so well ordered here that 
the of&cers and other Frenchmen whom I am 
compelled to send away complain, when they 
are absent, that they can not remain in Naples. 

*' Eead this, my good Julie, to mamma and 
to Caroline, since they are anxious, and say to 
them that if they knew me better, they would 
feel less solicitude. Say to them that one does 
not change at my age ; remind mamma that at 
every period of my life, an obscure citizen, cul- 
tivator, magistrate, I have always sacrificed 



1807.] The Crown a Burden. 159 

Letter to Julie. 

with pleasure my time to my duties. It sure- 
ly is not I, who prize grandeurs so little, who 
can fall asleep in their bosom. I see in them 
only duties, never privileges. 

" I work for the kingdom of Naples with the 
same good faith and the same self-renunciation 
with which, at the death of my father, I labored 
for his young family, whom I never ceased to 
bear in my heart, and all sacrifices were, for me 
enjoyments. I say this with pride, because it 
is the truth. I live only to be just ; and justice 
requires that I should render this people as 
happy as the scourge of war will render possi- 
ble. I venture to say, notwithstanding their 
situation, that the people of Naples are perhaps 
more happy than any other people. 

" Be tranquil, then, my love, and be assured 
that these sentiments are as unchanging in my 
soul as the immortal attachment which I bear 
for you and for my children ; if there be any 
sacrifice which they cost me, it is being separa- 
ted from you. Ambition certainly would not 
have led me away two steps if I could have re- 
mained tranquil. But honor and the senti- 
ment of my duty induce me, three times a year, 
to make the tour of my realm to solace the un- 
happy. 



160 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Eeforms. 



" Under these circumstances, I thank Heaven 
for having given me health and ability to bear 
the burden of affairs, and moderation which 
does not permit me to be dazzled by grandeur, 
and energy which does not allow me to slum- 
ber at my post; and a good conscience and a 
good wife to pronounce judgment upon what 
I ought to do. I embrace you. all tenderly." 

It was clear that the statesmanship of Na- 
poleon was the controlling influence in Jo- 
seph's administration, for in reading the details 
of his interior policy, we find that the institu- 
tions of regenerated France were taken as the 
models. To invest with honor the profession 
of a soldier, no one who had been condemned 
for crime was permitted to enter the army. 
Degrading punishments were abolished; dis- 
tinctions and rewards were accorded to eminent 
merit. Promotion depended no longer upon 
the accident of birth, but upon services ren- 
dered, so that every office of honor or emolu- 
ment was alike within the reach of all. Jo- 
seph, in his tour through the provinces, re- 
ceived very touching proofs of the affections 
of the people. It was indeed manifest to all 
that a new era of prosperity had dawned upon 
Naples. Still no devotion to the interests of 



1807.] The Ceown a Burden. 161 

Tour through the Provinces. 

the people can save a ruler from enemies. Two 
assassins attempted the life of the King. They 
were arrested, tried, condemned, and execu- 
ted.' 

On the 14th of May, 1807, Joseph set out 
on a tour through the provinces of the Abruz- 
zes, a mountainous region traversed by the 
Apennines. He found the government admi- 
rably administered under the authority of the 
French Greneral, Guvion Saint Cyr. The peo- 
ple were everywhere prosperous and happy. 
The region, abounding in precipitous crags and 
gloomy defiles, with communications often ren- 
dered impracticable by the rains and the melt- 
ing snows cutting gullies through the soil of 
sand and clay, had become quite isolated. 

The inhabitants spontaneously arose to cel- 
ebrate the arrival of the King by constructing 
durable roads. Joseph promptly lent the en- 

^ "The entrance of Joseph to Cosenza, the capital of hither 
Calabria, on the 11th of April, was as a national fete. Guards 
of honor, chosen from among the most distinguished families, 
all the clergy, all the population were at the gates to receive 
him. He was accompanied into the city with shouts of joy, 
the streets being ornamented with triumphal arches. One 
would have thought that lie was a sovereign returning after a 
long absence to the midst of a people by whom he was idol- 
ized." — Memoires et Correspondence Politique et Militaire, du 
Roi Joseph, p. 1 27. 

11 



162 Joseph Bonapaete. [1807. 

Daily Correspondence with Napoleon. 

terprise his royal support. He appointed a 
committee of able men, selected from each of 
the capitals of the three provinces, with three 
road engineers, to secure the judicious expen- 
diture of the money and the labor : and offered 
rewards to those communes which should push 
the improvements with the greatest vigor. A 
system of irrigation and drainage was also 
adopted which contributed immensely to the 
prosperity of the region, checking emigration 
by opening wide fields to agricultural industry. 
During all this time Joseph kept up almost 
a daily correspondence with his brother. The 
letters of Napoleon were written hurriedly, in 
the midst of overwhelming cares, intended to 
be entirely private, with no idea that their un- 
studied expressions, in which each varying 
emotion of his soul, of hope, of disappoint- 
ment, of irritation, found utterance, would be 
exposed to the malignant comments of his foes. 
The friends of Napoleon appeal triumphantly 
to this unmutilated correspondence, running 
through the period of many long and eventful 
years, to prove that Napoleon was animated by 
a high ambition to promote the interests of 
humanity ; that he wa§ one of the most philan- 
thropic as well as one of the greatest of men. 



1807.] The Ceown a Burden. 163 

Testimony of Joseph to the Character of Napoleon. 

Joseph himself, whose upright character no in- 
telligent man has yet questioned, says, in his 
autobiography, written at Point Breeze, New 
Jersey, when sixty -two years of age : 

" Having attained a somewhat advanced 
age, and enjoying good health, disabused of 
many of the illusions which enable me to 
bear the storms of life, and replacing those il- 
lusions by that tranquillity of soul which re- 
sults from a good conscience, and from the se- 
curity which is afforded by a country admi- 
rably constituted, I regard myself as having 
reached the port. Before disembarking upon 
the shores of eternity, I wish to render an ac- 
count to myself of the long voyage, and to 
search out the causes which have borne so 
high, in the ranks of society, my family, and 
which have terminated in depriving us of that 
which appertains to the humblest individual — 
a country which was dear .to us, and which we 
have served with good faith and devotion. 

" It is neither an apology nor a satire which 
I write. I render an account to myself of 
events, and I wish to place upon paper, the rec- 
ollections which they have left behind. There 
are some transactions which I now condemn, 
after having formerly approved of them ; there 



164 Joseph Bonapaete. [1807. 

Testimony of Joseph to the Character of Napoleon. 

are others of which I to-daj approve, after 
having formerly condemned them. Such is 
the feebleness of our nature, dependent always 
upon the circumstances which surround ns, and 
which frequently govern us — a thought which 
ought to lead every true and reflective man to 
charity. 

" I venture to affirm that it is the love of 
truth which leads me to undertake this writing. 
It is a sentiment of justice which I owe to the man 
who was my friend^ and lohom, human feebleness 
has disfigured in a manner so unworthy. Napo- 
leon was, above all, a friend of the people, and he 
was a just and good man, even more than he luas 
a great warrior and administrator. It is my 
duty, as his elder brother, and one who has not al- 
ways shared in his political opinions, to speak of 
that which I hnow, and to express convictions 
which I profoundly cherish. I am now in a bet- 
ter situation to appreciate what were the causes 
foreign to his nature, which forced him to as- 
sume a factitious character — a character which 
made him feared by the instruments which he 
had to, employ, in order to sustain against Eu- 
rope the war which the oligarchy had declared 
against the principles of the revolution, and 
which the British Cabinet waged against that 



1807.] The Crown a Burden. 165 

Testimony of Joseph to the Chai'acter of Napoleon. 

France whose supremac}^ it could prevent only 
bj exciting against her Continental wars and 
civil dissensions, and those despotic principles 
of government which no longer belonged to 
the nation or the age in which we lived." 



166 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Letter to Julie. 



CHAPTEE YI. 

THE SPANISH PRINCES. 

TOWARD the close of the year 1807 brig- 
andage was entirely suppressed, all traces 
of insurrection had disappeared, and tranquilli- 
ty and prosperity reigned throughout the king- 
dom of Naples. In July Joseph wrote from 
Capo di Monte to Queen Julie, who was then 
at Mortfontaine, as follows : 

"My dear Julie, — I have received your 
letter of the 15th from Mortfontaine. The 
sentiment which you have experienced in re- 
turning to that beautiful place, where we have 
been so happy for so long a time, and at so lit- 
tle expense, needs not the explanation of any 
supernatural causes. You perceive that there 
you have been happier than you are now, than 
you will be for a long time. The happiness 
which you have there enjoyed is sure as the 
past ; that which is destined for you here is as 
uncertain as the future. Life at Mortfontaine 
is that of innocence and peace ; it is that of the. 



1807.] The Spanish Princes. 167 

Letter to Julie- 

patriarclis. The life at Naples is that of kings. 
It is a voyage over a sea, often calm, but some- 
times stormy. The life at Mortfontaine was a 
promenade as placid as its waters. It flowed 
noiselessly like the light skiff which a slight 
effort of the oars of Zenaide^ sufficed to push 
forward around the isle of Molton.^ 

" But after all these regrets of a good heart, 
gentle and reasonable, there come the results 
of the reflections of a strong mind and an ele- 
vated soul which owes itself entirely to the 
will of Providence, manifested by the spontane- 
ous coming, and not desired by us, of grand- 
eurs which point us to other duties. I con- 
sole myself, in this new career, by seeing it 
traversed by my wife and my children. The 
most unpleasant part of the voyage is over, that 
which I have taken without them. Now peace 
will reunite us. And if you do not find here 
your own country, our reunion will give us 
the illusion of it. As we shall be the same to 
each other, I believe that, come what may, you 
will find Mortfontaine, where you see me hap- 
py in the love of my family, and in the happi- 
ness which I shall be able to confer, and in that 

* Daughter of the king. 

'■^ An island in the lake of Mortfontaine. 



168 Joseph Bonapaete. [1807. 

Victories of the Emperor. Joseph and Napoleon meet at Venice. 

still greater happiness of which I shall dream. 
Adieu, my dear Julie. I embrace you tenderly." 

The victories of the Emperor, the peace of 
Tilsit, the Kussian alliance, had greatly dimin- 
ished the influence of the British Cabinet upon 
the Continent, and, in the same proportion, had 
increased that of France. Still the Cabinet of 
St. James was unrelenting in opposition to Na- 
poleon. The British cruisers ran along the 
coast of Italy, landing here and there Sicilian 
or Calabrian brigands, who were under the pay 
of Ferdinand and Caroline. It was also proved 
that assassins were in the employ of Ferdinand 
and his queen. 

Toward the end of November Napoleon vis- 
ited Venice, and, by appointment, met his broth- 
er Joseph there. It has generally been affirm- 
ed that there was a secret article in the treaty 
of Tilsit authorizing Napoleon to dethrone the 
Bourbons of Spain, who had treacherously en- 
deavored to strike him in the back when, in 
the campaigns of Jena, Auerstadt, and Auster- 
litz, he was contending against England, France, 
and Kussia. But that secret article, if there 
were such, has been kept so secret, that no 
sufficient evidence has yet been adduced that 



1807.] The Spanish Pkinces. 169 

Joseph returns to Naples. 

it existed. Joseph, however, wrote, when an 
exile in America : 

"At the time of mj interview with the 
Emperor at Yenice, he spoke to me of troubles 
in the royal family of Spain as probably lead- 
ing to events which he dreaded. 'I have 
enough work marked out,' he said. 'The 
troubles in Spain will only aid the English to 
impair the resources, which I find in this alli- 
ance, to continue the war against them.' " 

On the 16th of December Joseph returned 
to Kaples, and the next day presided at the 
council of ministers. He did not make any 
communication of importance. ''It is only 
known," writes the Count of Melito, "that he 
sent one of his aides on a mission to the Em- 
peror Alexander. It was hence concluded that 
arrangements of some nature had been entered 
into at Yenice in harmony with the views of 
the Emperor of Russia." Joseph, however, 
writes, in reference to this mission, "General 
Marie took letters to Russia and congratula- 
tions, and brought me back letters, affectionate 
even, from the Emperor Alexander, and his 
compliments ; that was all." 

Lucien Bonaparte, a very independent and 
impulsive young man, was not disposed to sub- 



170 Joseph BonapartEo [1807. 

Lucien Bonaparte. Letter from Eliza Bonaparte. 

mit to the dictation of his elder brother Napo- 
leon. He had entered into a second marriage, 
which displeased Napoleon, as it very seriously 
interfered with his plans of forming a dynasty, 
Joseph was sent to meet the refractory brother 
at Modena, and to endeavor to promote recon- 
ciliation. The following letter from Eliza, writ- 
ten to her brother Lucien upon this subject 
will be read with interest. It was dated Mar- 
lia, June 20th, 1807 : 

" My dear Lucien, — I have received your 
letter. Permit, to my friendship, a few reflec- 
tions upon the present state of things. I hope 
that you will not be annoyed by my observa- 
tions. 

"Propositions were made to you, a year 
ago, which you should have found seasonable, 
and which you should immediately have ac- 
cepted, for the happiness of your family and 
of your wife. You now refuse them. Do you 
not see, my dear friend, that the only means 
of placing obstacles in the way of adoption is, 
that his Majesty should have a family of which 
he can dispose ? In remaining near Napoleon, 
or in receiving from him a throne, you will be 
useful to him. He will marry 3^our daughters ; 



1807.] The Spanish Princes. 171 

Letter from Eliza Bonaparte. 



and so long as lie can find, in the members of 
his family, the instruments, for executing his 
projects and his policy, he will not choose stran- 
gers. We must not treat with the master of the 
world as with an equal. Nature made us the 
children of the same father, and his prodigies 
have rendered us his subjects. Although sove- 
reigns, we hold every thing from him. It is 
a noble pride to acknowledge this ; and it 
seems to me that our only glory should be to 
prove by our manner of governing that we are 
worthy of him and of our family. 

"Keflect then anew upon the propositions 
which are made to you. Mamma and we all 
should be so happy to be reunited, and to make 
only one political family. Dear Lucien, do 
that for us, who love you, for the people whom 
my brother has given for you to govern, and 
to whom you will bring happiness. 

" Adieu. I embrace yon. Do not feel un- 
kindly to me for this ; and believe that my 
tenderness will always be the same for you. 
Embrace your wife and your amiable family. 
Chevalier Angelino, who has come to see me, 
has often spoken to me of you and of your wife. 
My little one is charming. I have weaned her. 



172 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 

Letter from Joseph to Napoleon. 

I shall be very happy if she is soon able to 
play with all the family. Adieu. 

" Your sister and friend, Eliza." 

The letters of the Emperor were sometimes 
severe in reproof of the policy of his brother. 
It is evident that Joseph was, at* times, quite 
wounded by these reproaches. At the conclu- 
sion of a long letter, written on the 19th of Oc- 
tober, 1807, Joseph says : 

"I am far from complaining of any one. 
The people and the enemy are what they must 
be. But it would be pleasant to me, could 
your Majesty truly know my position, and ren- 
der some justice to the efforts and to the priva- 
tions of every kind which I impose upon my- 
self to do the best I can. Although the pres- 
ent state of affairs may not be good, still I hope 
for better times. No person desires it more 
than I do. When I have a thousand ducats I 
give them ; and I can assure your Majesty that 
I have never in my life, which has been com- 
posed of so many different shades, found less 
opportunity to gratify my private inclinations. 
I have no expenses but for the public wants. 
I occupy myself day and night in the adminis- 
tration. I think the administration as good as 



1806.] The Spanish Princes. 173 

Interchange of Letters. 

possible; but it bas no more tbe power tban 
bave I to correct tbe times, and to create tbat 
wbicb does not exist and can not exist, except 
wbere tbere is interior tranquiUitj and external 
peace." 

On tbe 13tb of August, 1806, Josepb wrote 
to bis brotber, " I remain bere till your Maj- 
esty's birtbday, on wbicb I wisb you joy. I 
bope tbat you may receive witb some little 
pleasure tbis expression of my affection. Tbe 
glorious Emperor will never replace to me 
tbe Napoleon wbom I so mucb loved, and 
wbom I bope to find again, as I knew bim twen- 
ty years ago, if we are to meet in tbe Elysian 
Fields." 

Napoleon replied from Eambouillet, on tbe 
23d of August, 

"My Brother, — I bave received your letter 
of tbe 13tb of August. I am sorry tbat you 
tbink tbat you will find your brotber again 
only in tbe Elysian Fields. It is natural tbat 
at forty be sbould not feel toward you as be 
did at twelve. But bis feelings toward you 
are more true and strong. His friendsbip bas 
tbe features of bis mind." 

In December Napoleon bad a personal in- 
terview witb Lucien, and be gives tbe follow- 



174 Joseph Bonaparte. [1807. 



Interchange of Letters. 



iDg account of it, in a letter to Joseph., dated 
Mantua, 17th December, 1807: 

"My Brother, — I have seen Lucien at Man- 
tua. I talked with him several hours. He 
undoubtedly will inform you of the disposition 
in which he left. His thoughts and his lan- 
guage are so different from mine that I found it 
difficult to get an idea of what he wished. I 
think that he told me that he wished to send 
his eldest daughter to Paris, to be near her 
grandmother. If he continue in that disposi- 
tion, I desire to be immediately informed of it. 
And it is necessary that that young person 
should be in Paris in the course of January, 
either accompanied by Lucien, or intrusted by 
him to the charge of a governess, who will con- 
vey her to Madame.^ Lucien seems to be agi- 
tated by contrary sentiments, and not to have 
sufficient rStrength to come to a decision. 

" I have exhausted all the means in my 
power to recall Lucien, who is still in his early 
youth, to the employment of his talents for 
me and for the country. If he wisb to send 
his daughter, she should leave without delay, 
and he should send a declaration by which he* 
places her entirely at my disposal, for there is 

^ Madame Letitia, Napoleon's mother. 



1808.] The Spanish Pkinces. 175 

Interchange of Letters. 

not a momeut to be lost ; events hurry onward, 
and I must accomplish my destiny. If he has 
changed his opinion, let me immediately be in- 
formed of it, for then I must make other ar- 
rangements. 

" Say to Lucien that his grief and the part- 
ing sentiments which he manifested moved 
me ; that I regret the more that he will not be 
reasonable, and contribute to his own repose 
and to mine. I await with impatience a reply 
clear and decisive, particularly in that which 
relates to Charlotte." 

On the 81st of January, 1808, a fiend-like 
attempt was made to blow up the palace of 
Salicetti, Joseph's minister of police. About 
one o'clock in the morning,just asthe minister 
was entering his chamber, there was a terrific 
explosion. An infernal machine had been 
placed in the cellar. The whole palace was 
shattered and rent, while large porticos were 
thrown into utter ruin. Salicetti, severely 
wounded, heard the shrieks of his daughter, 
the Duchess of Lavello, and rushed to her aid. 
He found her buried five or six feet deep in 
the debris which had been thrown upon her. 
It was more than a quarter of an hour before 
her agonized father, aided by the domestics, 



176 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Attempt to assassinate Salicetti. 



could succeed in extricating her. Though 
alive, she was sadly maimed. Two of the in- 
mates of the palace were killed, and others 
were severely injured. 

ISTapoleon, when informed of the event, 
wrote to Joseph, under date of February 11th, 
1808: "The terrible misfortune which has 
happened to Salicetti seems to me to have been 
the result of over-indulgence. When were 
traitors ever before allowed to live free in a 
capital — wretches who had plotted against the 
State ? Their lives ought not to be spared ; 
but if that is done, at least you ought to send 
them sixty leagues from the capital or shut 
them up in a fortress. Any other conduct is 
madness." 

Napoleon, having gained a glorious peace 
upon the plains of Poland, which disarmed the 
nations of the north, now turned his special 
attenticfti to the south — to Portugal, Spain, It- 
aly, Eome, and Naples. The possession of the 
kingdom of Naples, instead of being a source 
of profit to the Emperor, occasioned him con- 
tinued and heavy expense. Joseph was ever 
calling for money to meet the innumerable de- 
mands involved in carrying on war with the 
English, and in urging forward those reforms 



1808.] The Spanish Princes. 177 

Napoleon complains of Roederer. 

-i^ : , 

which were essential to the regeneration of 
a realm which former misgovernment had 
plunged to a very low abyss of poverty and 
ruin. The Emperor, bearing the burden of 
the exhaustive wars ever "waged against him, 
while continually aiding Joseph, still often and 
severely reproached him with the manner in 
which his finances were conducted. On the 
11th of February, 1808, he wrote : 

" My Brother, — ^The administration of the 
realm of Naples is very bad. Eoederer makes 
brilliant projects, ruins the country, and pays 
no money into your treasury. This is the 
opinion of all the French who come from Na- 
ples. Eoederer is upright, and has good in- 
tentions, but he has no experience." 

Again, on the 26th of February, he wrote : 
" Eoederer is of the race of men who always 
ruin those to whom they are attached. Is it 
want of tact, is it misfortune? "No matter 
which ; there is not one of your friends who 
does not detest Eoederer. He is at Naples as 
at Paris, without credit with any party ; a man 
of no sagacity, of no tact, whom, however, I es- 
teem for many good qualities, but whom, as a 
statesman, I can make nothing of." 

Joseph, however, earnestly defended his 
12 



178 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Queen Julie and her Children repair to Naples. 

financial agent as an able and an honest man, 
who made enemies only of those who wish- 
ed to plunder the treasury. This led Joseph, 
whose constant effort it was to promote the 
happiness of his people, to whose interests he 
was entirely devoted, to order a minute state- 
ment to be drawn up of the condition of the 
realm in all respects. This remarkable docu- 
ment was written by Count Melito, the Minister 
of the Interior. It gave an accurate narrative 
of all the ameliorations which had been intro- 
duced by Joseph, and will ever remain a mon- 
ument of his goodness and tireless energies 
as a sovereign. As none of the statements 
could be doubted, the document at the time pro- 
duced a profound impression throughout Eu- 
rope. 

Queen Julie now came to Naples with her 
children to join her husband. She was re- 
ceived with great enthusiasm. There has sel- 
dom been found, in the history of the world, 
a worse woman than Caroline, the wife of Fer- 
dinand, the former King of Naples. And his- 
tory records the name perhaps of no better 
woman than Julie, the wife of Joseph. The 
King met the Queen on the 4th of April at 
Saint Lucie, and conducted her, greeted by the 



1808.] The Spanish Peinces. 179 



Treachery of Spain, 



acclamations of their rejoicing subjects, into 
their beautiful capital. 

The treachery of the Court of Spain, which, 
like ail assassin, endeavored to strike the Em- 
pire of France stealthily, with a poiso^ied dag- 
ger, in the back, was known throughout Eu- 
rope. . These proud dynasties regarded Napo- 
leon, because he was an elected^ not a legitimate 
sovereign, as an outlaw, with whom no treaties 
were binding, and whom they could betray, 
entrap, and shoot at pleasure. 

When Napoleon was far away, in his win- 
ter campaign, bivouacking upon the cold sum- 
mit of the Landgrafenberg, the evening before 
the battle of Jena he received information 
that the Bourbons of Spain, then professing 
friendship, and bound to him by a treaty of al- 
liance, were secretly entering into a contract 
with England to assail him in the rear. Na- 
poleon had neither done nor meditated aught 
to injure Spain. His crime was that he had 
accepted the crown from the people, and was 
ruling in behalf of their interests, and not in 
the interests of the nobles alone. 

" A convention," says Alison, " was secret- 
ly concluded at Madrid between the Spanish 
Government and the Eussian ambassador, to 



180 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Plan of Napoleon. 



which the Court of Lisbon was also a party, 
by which it was agreed that, as soon as the 
favorable opportunity was arrived, by the 
French armies being far advanced on their 
road to Berlin, the Spanish Grovernment should 
commence hostilities in the Pyrenees, and in- 
vite the English to co-operate." 

Napoleon, by his camp-fire, upon the eve of 
a terrible battle, read the account of this per- 
fidy. As he folded the dispatches, he said 
calmly, but firmly, " The Bourbons of Spain 
shall be replaced by princes of my own fami- 

ly." 

" The Spanish Bourbons," says Napier, 
" could never have been sincere friends to 
France while Bonaparte held the sceptre ; and 
the moment that the fear of his power ceased 
to operate, it was quite certain that their ap- 
parent friendship would change to active hos- 
tility." 

" When I made peace on the Niemen," said 
Napoleon, " I stipulated that if England did 
not accept the mediation of Alexander, Eussia 
should unite her arms with ours, and compel 
that power to peace. I should be indeed weak 
if, having obtained that single advantage from 
those whom I have vanquished, I should per- 



1808.] The Spanish Pkinces. 181 

Plan of Napoleon. Testimony in Fc.vor of Joseph. 

mit the Spaniards to embroil me afresh on my 
weak side. Should I permit Spain to form an 
alliance with England, it would give that hos- 
tile power greater advantages than it has lost 
by the rupture with Russia. I wish, above 
all things, to avoid war with Spain. Such a 
contest would be a species of sacrilege. If I 
can not arrange with either the father or the 
son, I will make a clean sweep of them both." 

Rumor was busy throughout Europe in dis- 
cussing the plans of Napoleon. The report 
soon became general that the crown of Spain 
was to be offered to Joseph. His kindness of 
heart, his nobleness of character, and the im- 
mense benefits which he had conferred upon 
the Keapolitan realm, had secured for him al- 
most universal respect and affection. The Nea- 
politans were greatly alarmed from fears that 
he would be transferred to Spain. 

" The King," writes his very able biogra- 
pher, A. du Oasse, "was universally beloved, 
because he began to be appreciated at his true 
value. His good qualities, the love with which 
he cherished his subjects, had won all hearts. 
His departure was dreaded. Joseph, however, 
did not slacken the reins of government. The 
Councils of State and the ministers, presided 



182 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Joseph's Journey to Bayonne. 

over by him, continued their labors to amelio- 
rate the administration of the realm, to embel- 
lish Naples, to encourage discoveries, to unite 
the learned in a literary corps. The King 
wished that, even after his departure, the im- 
pulse which he had given should continue un- 
interrupted," 

It was at Naples, under the encouragement 
of Joseph, that the art of lithography was dis- 
covered. On the 23d of May, 1808, the King, 
by the request of Napoleon, left Naples for 
France. He left his family behind him, and 
hastened through Turin and Lyons to meet 
his brother at Bayonne. His departure caused 
great anxiety and sadness throughout the king- 
dom of Naples. "Who would wear the crown 
about to be vacated ? Would the Two Sicilies 
be annexed to the kingdom of Italy under Eu- 
gene ? Would Louis, Lucien, or one of Napo- 
leon's marshals succeed Joseph ? 

On the journey Joseph met the Bishop of 
Grenoble, formerly the abbe Simon, his ancient 
professor of mathematics and philosophy in 
the College of Autun. Joseph had ever cher- 
ished the memory of his teacher with great 
affection, and, upon meeting, threw his arms 
around him in a tender embrace. As the 



1808.] The Spanish Princes. 183 



Forebodings of Joseph. 



bishop complimented him upon his high des- 
tiny, and congratulated him upon the proba- 
bility of his immediate elevation to the throne 
of Spain, Joseph replied sadly,' 

" May your felicitations, Monsieur the Bish- 
op, prove of happy augury to your former pu- 
pil. May your prayers avert the calamities 
which I foresee. As for me, ambition does 
not blind me. The joys of the crown of Spain 
do not dazzle my eyes. I leave a country in 
which I think that I have done some good, 
where I flatter myself to have been beloved, 
and that I leave behind me some regrets. 
Will it be the same in the new realm which 
awaits me? 

" The Neapolitans have, so to speak, never 
known nationalityc By turns conquered by 
the Normans, the Spaniards, the French, it was 
little matter to them who their masters were, 
provided that these masters left them their 
blue skies, their azure sea, their spot in the 
sunshine, and a few pence for their macaroni. 

"Arriving among them, I found every 
thing to do. I stimulated their natural apa- 
thy, gave nerve to the administration, intro- 

* We are indebted, for the report of this conversation, to 
M. Simon, of Nantes, a nephew of the bishop. 



184 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808 

Forebodings of Joseph. 

duced some order everywhere. They were 
pleased with my good intentions, with my ef- 
forts. They loved me with the same fervor 
with which they hated the King of Sicily and 
his odious ministers. In Spain, on the con- 
trary, I shall labor in vain ; I can not so com- 
pletely lay aside my title of a foreigner that I 
can escape the hatred of a people proud and 
sensitive upon the point of honor; of a people 
who have known no other wars but wars of 
independence, and who abhor, above all things, 
the French name. 

" The Peninsula contains at this moment, 
under arms, nearly one hundred thousand na- 
tional soldiers, who will excite, at the same 
time, against my government, the monks, the 
clergy, the friends (and they are still numerous) 
of legitimacy, the ancient and faithful servants 
of old Charles lY., the gold and the intrigues 
of England. Every thing will prove an ob- 
stacle to my plans of amelioration. They will 
be misrepresented, calumniated, disowned. 

" In view of the insurrection of which the 
Prince of Asturias has recently given an ex- 
ample against his own father, in the midst of 
\icense and anarchy, the natural consequence 
of long demoralization and the disorders of a 



1808.] The Spanish Princes. 185 

Forebodings of Joseph. The Brigands. 

dissolute court, of a dynasty used up, will not 
all wise and well-moderated liberty be regard- 
ed as the equal of tyranny ? Monsieur the 
Bishop, I see a horizon charged with very 
black clouds. They contain in their bosom a 
future which terrifies me. The star of my 
brother, will it always shine luminous and bril- 
liant in the skies ? I do not know ; but sad 
presentiments oppress me in spite of myself 
They besiege me ; they govern me. I greatly 
fear that, in giving" me a crown more illustri- 
ous than that which I lay aside, the Emperor 
will place upon my brow a burden heavier 
than it can bear. Pity me, then, my dear 
teacher, pity me ; do not felicitate me." 

The brigands in the kingdom of Naples, and 
the eternal and natural enemies of repose 
which are to be found in all countries, avail- 
ing themselves of the absence of King Joseph, 
and encouraged by the presence of the British 
fleet and the gold of the -British Cabinet, re- 
doubled their efforts in local insurrections, and 
committed cowardly assassinations. The ban- 
dits would land here and there, and perpetrate 
the most atrocious crimes, burning, plundering, 
murdering. 

Joseph was anxious, before leaving ISTaples, 



186 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Queen Julie leaving Naples. 



to establish institutions of liberty which might 
be permanent. On the 21st of July, the Coun- 
cil of State received from the King a constitu- 
tion, which he had drawn up with the aid of 
his ministers. It contained the clear announce- 
ment of the principles which had animated 
him during his reign, and was founded upon 
the constitutions in France and in the king- 
dom of Italy. Though the constitution was 
not perfect — for the world is ever making prog- 
ress — it was greatly in advance of any thing 
which had been known in the kingdom of 
Sicily before, and conferred immense advanta- 
ges upon the realm. There was but one legisla- 
tive body. It consisted of five sections, equal 
in number: the clergy, the nobility, the land- 
ed proprietors, the philosophers, and the mer- 
chants. The Council of State chose five of 
the most distinguished persons, of the various 
classes, to convey to Joseph their thanks for 
the constitution he had conferred upon the 
realm. 

On the 6th of July, Queen Julie, with her 
children, left I^aples to join her husband in 
Spain. A numerous cortege escorted her from 
the city with every testimonial of regret. On 
the 8th Joseph abdicated the crown, which 



1808.] The Spanish Princes. 189 

Summary of Joseph's Benefactions to Naples. 

was subsequently transferred to the brow of 
jSTapoleon's cavalry leader, Murat, who had 
married Caroline Bonaparte. 

" Here terminates," writes M. Casse, " our 
task relative to the short reign of Joseph in 
Naples. That prince had rendered to that 
beautiful country services which, long after 
his departure, conferred blessings upon the 
realm, which had been surrendered until then 
to the sad regime of a feudalism crushing to 
the people. His successor found the ground 
clear, war extinct almost everywhere, the con- 
quest assured, tranquillity established, abuses 
reformed, civil administration organized, the 
monks suppressed, the finances restored, credit 
consolidated, public instruction and legislation 
founded upon liberal bases, and wisely adapted 
to the manners of the inhabitants. 

" The army was formed -under the shade of 
the flag of France ; the marine commenced to 
be regenerated. The sciences and the arts, 
encouraged, were beginning to diffuse them- 
selves ; brigandage was breathing its last sigh. 
There remained for Murat only to reap the 
fruits of the wise and paternal conduct of the 
older brother of the Emperor. He inherited a 
country of rich and fertile soil, with a delight- 



190 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Hostility of tlie British Government. 

ful climate, inhabited by a population blessing 
the guardian hand which had delivered them 
from the ignorance into which the ancient Gov- 
ernment seemed to have plunged them by de- 
sign. The task of the new sovereign seemed 
to be only to complete the work of the phil- 
osophic King." 

It was the implacable hostility of the Brit- 
ish Government, ever ready to avail itself of 
the treachery of Spain, which, in the view of 
Napoleon rendered it necessary for him, as an 
act of self-preservation, to place the govern- 
ment of the Spanish Peninsula in friendly 
hands. On the 18th of April, 1808, Napoleon 
had written to Joseph, 

" England begins to suffer. Peace with that 
power alone will enable me to sheathe the 
sword and restore tranquillity to Europe." 

Before we accompany Joseph to Spain, let 
us briefly review the condition of Europe at 
this time. By the. peace of Tilsit, the Emper- 
or Alexander had recognized all the changes 
which th*e sword of Napoleon had effected upon 
the Continent of Europe. The Czar was on 
terms of personal friendship with Napoleon, and 
it was understood that he had given his consent 
to Napoleon's design to dethrone the Bour- 



1808.] The Spanish Pkinces. 191 

Condition of Europe. 

bons of Spain. The infamous British expedi- 
tion to Copenhagen, with the bombardment of 
the city and the destruction of the Danish fleet, 
had created general indignation throughout 
the European world. England had but one 
single ally left, the half-mad King of Sweden. 
The ships of England, excluded from ever}^ 
port upon the Continent, wandered idly over 
the seas. " 

Austria, humiliated by the treaty of Pres- 
burg, was sullen and silent, watching for an 
opportunity to regain its former ascendency 
and military prestige. In Prussia the House 
of Brandenburg had been terribly punished. 
Though it still reigned, it was with diminished 
territory, with its military strength nearly de- 
stroyed, and with all its strong places held by 
French troops. The Cabinet at Berlin could 
not venture in any way to- oppose the will of 
Kapoleon. All the kings and princes of the 
Confederation of the Ehine were united to 
France by the closest alliance. 

Jerome, Napoleon's youngest brother, was 
king of Westphalia. Louis reigned in Holland. 
French influence was supreme in Switzerland. 
The Emperor Napoleon was king of Italy, and 
Joseph, reigning at Naples, was about to be 



192 Joseph Bonapaete. [1808. 

Measures of the Bourbons of Spain. 

transferred to Spain. Turkey was allied with 
France, seeking from the Emperor protection 
from the encroachments of Eussia. Conse- 
quently England was at war with the Porte. 

Spain occupied a peculiar position. The 
King, Charles lY., a near relative of Louis 
XYIo, had united with allied Europe in the 
war against the French Eepublic. Terribly 
punished by the French armies, Spain had 
made peace at the treaty of Basle in July, 
1795. Soon after, the two powers entered 
into an alliance, offensive and defensive, en- 
gaging to assist each other with both land and 
sea forces. 

This brought down upon Spain the ven- 
geance of the British Government, which, with 
its invincible fleet, swept all seas. Spanish 
commerce at once became the prey of Eng- 
lish privateers. Cadiz was bombarded, and the 
Spanish naval fleet encountered very severe 
loss. The peace of Amiens, to which the Brit- 
ish Government had been very reluctantly 
compelled to assent by the pressure of English 
public opinion, gave peace to Spain. But 
when the Court of Saint James, by the rupture 
of the peace of Amiens, renewed its assault 
upon France, the Spanish Court, anxious to 



1808.] The Spanish Princes. 193 

Measures of the Bourboiis of Spain. 

avoid a war with EDgland, proposed to ISTapo- 
leon that, instead of aiding him directly by 
fleet and army, according to the terms of the 
alliance, Spain should pay France an annual 
subsidy of six million francs. The proposition 
was accepted. 

The English minister, ascertaining this, with- 
out any declaration of icar^ seized every thing 
belonging to Spain which could be found 
afloat. As Spain, supposing that her assumed 
neutrality would be respected, had her fleet 
and merchandise everywhere exposed, her loss 
was very severe. 

When the Bourbons of Spain saw that the 
British Government had succeeded in forming 
a new alliance against Xapoleon, which would 
compel the French Emperor to take his armies 
hundreds of leagues north to struggle against 
the united armies of Prussia and Eussia, it was 
thought that ISTapoleon must inevitably fall. 
Spain decided again to make common cause 
with the Allies, as we have before mentioned. 
A vehement proclamation was issued, calling 
the Spaniards to arms. The utter crushing of 
Prussia on the fields of Jena and Auerstadt 
literally frightened Spain out of her wits. She 
sent an ambassador extraordinary to congratii- 

13 



194 Joseph Bonapaete. [1807. 

Character of the Eoyal Family of Spain. 

late Napoleon upon Ms victory^ and to assure Mm 
of the continued friendsMp of the Spanish Govern- 
ment. iN'apoleon concealed his just resentment. 
The time to rectify the wrong had not yet 
come. 

Queen Caroline, the wife of Charles lY. of 
Spain, was one of the most infamous of women ; 
still she could not be worse than her husband. 
There was a very handsome young fellow in 
the body-guard, named Godoy. Caroline fell 
in love with him, made him her intimate friend, 
lavished upon him titles and wealth and posts 
of responsibility. He was called the Prince of 
Peace, in consequence of the agency he had in 
effecting the treaty of Basle. He was in all 
respects a very weak and worthless creature; 
but he had become in reality the sovereign of 
Spain, governing with unlimited power. This 
man, in his anxiety to disarm the anger of I^a- 
poleon, sent an ambassador to the Emperor to 
renew his pledges of friendship, and to give as- 
surance of his entire submission in all things 
to Napoleon's will. A secret treaty was ac- 
cordingly made on the 27th of October, 1807, 
which enabled Napoleon, among other conces- 
sions, to station large bodies of French troops 
within the Spanish territory. 



1807,] The Spanish Princes. 195 

The Spanish Princes. 

The King's eldest son, Ferdinand, the heir 
to the throne, was then twentj-five years of 
age, and bore the title of the Prince of Asturias. 
His mother had truly characterized him as 
having "a mule's head and a tiger's heart." 
He hated Godoy, and was accused of attempt- 
ing to poison his father and mother, that he 
might get the crown. His arrest and threaten- 
ed execution by his father roused the masses 
of Madrid to a fury of insurrection. Much as 
they detested Ferdinand, they hated still more 
implacably the King and Queen, and the 
Queen's infamous paramour, Godoy. A raging 
insurrection swept the streets of Madrid. The 
King was terror-stricken, and implored help 
from Napoleon. He wrote : 

"Sire, my Brother,' — I have discovered 
with horror that my eldest son, the heir pre- 
sumptive to the throne, has not only formed 
the design to dethrone me, but even to attempt 
the life of myself and his mother. Such an 
atrocious attempt merits the most exemplary 
punishment. I pray your Majesty to aid me 
by your light and council," 

Ferdinand also appealed to the Emperor. 
He wrote, "The world more and more daily 
admires the greatness and goodness of Napo- 



196 JOSEPPI BONAPAKTE. [1807. 



The Spanish Princes. 



leon. Eest assured that the Emperor shall 
ever find in Ferdinand the most faithful and 
devoted son. Ferdinand implores, therefore, 
his powerful protection, and prays that he will 
grant him the honor of an alliance with some 
august princess of his family." 

Thus Napoleon suddenly and unexpectedly 
found the King of Spain, Godoy, and the Fer- 
dinands, all kneeling at his feet. Speaking 
upon this subject at Saint Helena, he said : 

" The fact is, that had it not been for their 
broils and quarrels among themselves, I should 
never have thought of dispossessing them. 
When I saw those imbeciles quarrelling and 
trying to dethrone each other, I thought I 
might as well take advantage of it, and dispos- 
sess an inimical family. Had I known at first 
that the transaction would have given me so 
much trouble, or that even it would have cost 
the lives of two hundred men, I would never 
have attempted it. But being once embarked, 
it was necessary to go forward." 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 199 

Abdication of Cliarlea IV. 



CHAPTER VII. 

JOSEPH KING OF SPAIN. 

\ FTER a series of the wildest, most tumul- 
•^^-^ tuous, and frantic scenes of which even 
Spanish history gives any account, Charles TV. 
abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand. On 
the 20th of March, 1808, the new King, Ferdi- 
nand YIL, was saluted by the acclamations of 
the people and the soldiers, and received the 
homage of the Court. One of his first acts was 
to arrest the hated Manuel Godoy. Murat was 
then in command of the French troops in Spain, 
and was about entering Madrid. Junot, with a 
French army, had taken possession of Portugal. 
Spain was nominally in alliance with France. 
England was consequently waging war against 
Spain. The French troops were in Spain to 
protect the kingdom from the English. 

The young King Ferdinand immediately 
dispatched the Duke of Pargue to convey as- 
surances of friendship to Murat, and to sound 
his intentions. At the same time he sent three 



200 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Ferdinand claims the Crown. 



of the grandees of Spain to announce his ac- 
cession to the throne to Napoleon, and to give 
him renewed pledges of his friendship and de- 
votion. On the 23d of April Murat took mil- 
itary possession of Madrid. The next day 
Ferdinand made his triumphal entrance into 
the metropolis. He was received, with bound- 
less exultation, so greatly were the people re- 
joiced to be delivered from the detestable Go- 
doy. Thus far Napoleon did not recognize 
the accession of Ferdinand. He however sent 
the Duke of Eovigo to Madrid to ascertain the 
circumstances of the abdication. In the mean 
time the old King, who had retired with the 
Queen to Aranjuez, wrote a letter to the Em- 
peror, in which he said that he had been forced 
to abdicate in favor of his son by the clamors 
of the people and the insurrection of the sol- 
diers, threatening him with instant death if he 
refused. 

" I protest and declare," he said, " that my 
decree of the 19th of March, in which I abdi- 
cated the crown in favor of my son, is an act 
to which I have been forced to prevent the 
greatest misfortunes and the effusion of the 
blood of my well-beloved subjects. It ought 
consequently to be regarded as of no value." 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 201 

Measures of Murat. 

The Queen also wrote to Murat, entreating 
him, in the most supplicating terms, to rescue 
her paramour Grodoy from prison, and stating 
that they had abdicated only to save their lives. 
While Charles lY. and Caroline were making 
these secret protestations to ITapoleon and Mu- 
rat, the abdicated King, to lull the suspicions of 
Ferdinand, was reiterating the public declara- 
tion that the abdication was free and uncon- 
strained, and that never in his life had he per- 
formed an act more agreeable to his inclina- 
tions. 

Murat took the old King and Queen under 
his protection, provided them with a suitable 
guard, and demanded the liberation of Godoy. 
Ferdinand, convinced that he could not main- 
tain the throne without the support of Napo- 
leon, sent his younger brother, Don Carlos, to 
intercede with the Emperor in his favor. While 
these scenes were transpiring, Savary, Duke of 
Eovigo, arrived at Madrid. He assured Ferdi- 
nand that it was the Emperor's desire to unite 
France and Spain in the closest alliance. ' He 
proposed that Ferdinand should visit ISTapoleon, 
that in a personal interview they might the bet- 
ter mutually understand each other. The coun- 
sellors of Ferdinand urged the adoption of this 



202 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Ferdinand visits Bayonne. 

measure, as one which would secure the confi- 
dence of the Emperor, and which might induce 
him to give a princess of his family to Ferdi- 
nand. Such was the condition of affairs in 
April, 1808. The great object of Napoleon was 
to secure a government in Spain whose treach- 
ery he need not fear, and upon whose friendly 
co-operation he could rely. Charles lY., the 
weakest of weak men, enslaved by long habit, 
was the obsequious tool of his stronger-minded 
wife. The Queen, Caroline, sought, at whatev- 
er price, to save her lover Godoy. Ferdinand 
wished to crush Godoy, his implacable foe. 

Ferdinand decided to visit the Emperor, and 
on the 10th of April left Madrid for that pur- 
pose. When he reached his frontiers he wrote 
a very suppliant letter to Napoleon, entreating 
the recognition of his right to the throne, and 
pledging his friendship. Napoleon replied that 
he was ready to recognize the Prince of Asturi- 
as as King of Spain if it should appear that 
Charles TV. had not been compelled to abdicate 
through fear of his life. By this extraordinary 
concurrence of circumstances Napoleon became 
the judge between the father and the son, both 
of whom had appealed to his decision. 

Ferdinand, with his suite, crossing the fron- 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 203 



Tne Royal Family follow. 



tiers, hastened to Bayonne, and entered the city 
on the morning of the 20th of April. He was 
received by the Emperor with distinguished 
marks of attention and kindness, but not with 
regal honors. The Prince of Peace, whose liber- 
ation Murat had secured, came hurrying on to 
Bayonne, to plead his canse before the Emperor ; 
and he was followed, in a few hours, by Charles 
lY. aud the Queen. Thus the whole family was 
assembled at Bayonne. The result of several 
stormy interviews, in which the King, the 
Queen, and their son exhausted upon each other 
the language of vituperation, and in which the 
enraged old King was with difficulty restrained 
from a violent personal attack upon his son, 
the parties all agreed to cede to Napoleon the 
crown of Spain. Ferdinand first renounced his 
rights in favor of his father, and Charles lY. 
transferred the sceptre to Napoleon. The im- 
perial palace of Campiegne, its parks and for- 
ests, were placed at the disposition of Charles I Y. 
for himself, his Queen, and Godoy, during his 
life, with an annual pension of thirty million 
reals. He was also given the proprietorship of 
the chateau of Chambord,. with its parks, for- 
ests, and farms, to dispose of as he pleased. 
Upon the death of the King, the Queen was to 



204 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Eemarks of Napoleon. 



receive a pension of two million reals. The two 
princes, Ferdinand and Don Carlos, were as- 
signed to the castle of Yalengay, its park, for- 
ests, and farms, with an income amounting to 
about half a million dollars. 

It is said that Napoleon obtained at Bayonne 
such developments of the character of Ferdi- 
nand that he saw that it was utterly in vain to 
attempt to make a respectable kingof hira; one 
upon whom he could repose the slightest reli- 
ance ; and he could no longer think of sacrifi- 
cing the daughter of Lucien to so worthless a 
creature. Speaking upon this subject at Saint 
Helena, Napoleon said to Las Casas : 

"Ferdinand offered, on his own account, to 
govern entirely at my devotion, as much so as 
the Prince of Peace had done in the name of 
Charles lY. And I must admit that if I had 
fallen into their views I should have acted much 
more prudently than I have actually done. 
When I had them all assembled at Bayonne, I 
found myself in command of much more than 
I could have ventured to hope for. The same 
occurred there, as in many other events of my 
life, which have been ascribed to my policy, but 
in fact were owing to my good-fortune. 

" Here I found the Gordian knot before me. 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 205 



Proclamation of Charles IV. 



I cut 'it. I proposed to Charles IV. and the 
Queen that they should cede to me their rights 
to the throne. They at once agreed to it, I had 
almost said voluntarily ; so deeply were their 
hearts ulcerated toward their son, and so de- 
sirous had they and their favorite now become 
of security and repose. The Prince of Asturi- 
as did not make any extraordinary resistance. 
Neither violence nor menaces were employed 
against him. And if fear decided him, which 
I well believe was the case, it concerns him 
alone." 

On the 8th of May Charles lY. issued a 
proclamation to the Spanish nation, informing 
them that he had ceded the crown to Napoleon, 
and enjoining it upon them to transfer their 
homage to him. "We have," said he, "ceded 
all our rights over Spain to our ally and friend 
the Emperor of the French, by a treaty signed 
and ratified, stipulating the integrity and inde- 
pendence of Spain and the preservation of our 
holy religion, not only as dominant, but as 
alone tolerated in Spain." 

As the throne was thus transferred without 
any action of the people whatever, Napoleon 
felt the necessity of obtaining something like 
a national sanction of the deed, and an expres- 



206 Joseph Bonapaete. [1808. 



Joseph Proclaimed King of Spain. 



sion of the national will in respect to the sove- 
reign who should be placed over them. Mu- 
rat, at Madrid, announced to the council-gen- 
eral of Castile, to the junta or council of the 
Government, and to the municipality, that the 
Emperor desired to know their opinion in ref- 
erence to the choice of a sovereign from the 
princes of his own family. All these three 
bodies united in the expression of the wish 
that the choice should fall upon Prince Joseph, 
King of Naples. A deputation of distinguish- 
ed men was sent to convey this wish to the 
Emperor. Fortified by these documents, Na- 
poleon, on the 6th of June, proclaimed that 
the crown of Spain was transferred to his 
brother Joseph. 

Joseph was at that time on the road to Bay- 
onne, not yet knowing the decision of his broth- 
er, and in heart very reluctant to assume the 
crown of Spain. Napoleon rode out from 
Bayonne to meet Joseph, whom he sincerely 
loved, and who was so ready to sacrifice his in- 
clinations and his happiness to aid the Empe- 
ror in his gigantic plans. The Emperor made 
the following statement to Joseph as they rode 
back together to Bayonne : 

" The passions of the princes of the House 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 207 



Eeniarks of Napoleon. 



of Spain have precipitated a crisis which has 
arrived too soon. They could no more agree 
together at Bajonne than thej could in Spain. 
Charles lY. preferred to retire to France upon 
certain conditions, rather than go back to Spain 
without the Prince of Peace. The Queen also 
preferred to see a stranger ascend the throne 
rather than Ferdinand. Neither Ferdinand 
nor any other Spaniard wished for Charles 
TV. if the reign of Godoy were to be recom- 
menced ; they preferred a stranger to him. I 
am fully satisfied," said the Emperor, " that it 
would require greater efforts to sustain Charles 
and the Prince of Peace than to change the 
dynasty. Ferdinand has shown himself so 
moderate in ability, and so unreliable in char- 
acter, that it would be inconsistent for me to 
commit myself for him in sustaining a son 
who has dethroned his father. This dynasty 
is" no longer suitable for Spain. With it no 
regeneration is possible. The most prominent 
personages of the monarchy, in rank, in intel- 
ligence, and in character, assembled at Bay- 
onne in a national junta, are, in general, con- 
vinced of this truth. Since destiny has so or- 
dered it, and since it is in my power now to 
do that which I had no wish to undertake, I 



208 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Remarks of Napoleon. 

have designed to regenerate Spain by placing 
over it my brother, the King of Naples, who is 
agreeable to the junta, and who will be also so 
to the nation. Ferdinand has, for a long time, 
sought one of my nieces in marriage. But 
since the interview at Bayonne, knowing 
more intimately the character of the prince, 
I can not think it proper to accede to his de- 
mands. 

" The Spanish princes have already left for 
France. They have ceded their rights to the 
crown. I wish to transfer the crown to my 
brother, the King of Naples. It is important 
that he should not hesitate. The Spaniards, 
as also foreign sovereigns, will think that I 
wish to place that crown upon my head, as I 
have done with that of Lombardy when Jo- 
seph refused to accept it. The tranquillity of 
Spain, of Europe, the reconciliation of all the 
members of the family^ depend upon the de- 
cision which Joseph now makes. I will not 
cherish the thought that the regret to leave a 
beautiful country, where there are no longer 
any dangers to be encountered, can induce 
Joseph to refuse a throne, where there are 

^ Napoleon then contemplated making Lucien King of 
Naples. 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 209 

Opinions of the Junta. 

great obstacles to be overcome, and much good 
to be accoraplislied." 

When they reached Bayonne, Joseph found 
all the members of the Junta assembled in the 
chateau of Marrac. He responded vaguely to 
the address of congratulation the Junta made 
to him, wishing first to converse with each in- 
dividual member of that body. The Spanish 
princes left for Yalengay, and Charles lY. had 
no partisans whatever. The Duke of Infanta- 
do and M. Cevallos had been considered the 
warmest advocates of Ferdinand. They both 
called upon Joseph, and held a long interview 
with him. The duke offered him his services, 
saying that he had possessions in the kingdom, 
of Naples, and that his agents there had in- 
formed him of the wonders which Joseph had 
wrought. " If Joseph," said he, "can be in 
Spain what he has been in Naples, there is no 
doubt that the entire nation will rally around 
him." ' M. Cevallos expressed the same views. 
Joseph then*saw every member of the Junta 
individually, nearly one hundred in number. 
They all, without exception, described the 
wretchedness into which Spain had fallen, and 
the apparent facility with which it could be 
regenerated. Upon one point they all agreed : 

14 



210 Joseph Bonapaete. [1808. 



Motives of Joseph. 



that it would be impossible to live in peace 
under either the father or the son ; that Joseph 
alone, sacrificing the throne of Naples that he 
might ascend that of Spain, would meet the 
wishes of all parties, and bring back prosperity 
to the distracted realm. 

These assurances, which were given to Jo- 
seph by all the members of the Spanish Junta 
assembled at Bayonne, that his acceptance of 
the throne would calm all troubles, assure the 
independence of the monarchy, the integrity 
of its territory, -its liberty, and its happiness, 
roused his generous enthusiasm. "He yield- 
ed," writes his biographer, " sacrificing his 
dearest interests to the hope of doing good to 
a greater number of people, and decided to ac- 
cept the crown which was offered him. He 
considered it his duty to occupy the most dan- 
gerous post. Virtue, not ambition, led Joseph 
to Spain." 

The Emperor wished to introduce into Spain 
the same advanced principles of popular liberty 
which Joseph, by the Constitution, had con- 
ferred upon Naples. With that object he con- 
voked at Bayonne, on the 15th of June, a Span- 
ish assembly, called the Constitutional Junta. 
This Congress was to consist of one hundred and 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 211 

Address of the Duke of Infantado. Addresses from other Bodies. 

fifty persons of the most distinguislied orders 
in the state, though but about one hundred 
were actually convened. A large number had 
already assembled when Joseph reached Bay- 
on ne. They hastened to welcome him. Many 
of them, however, afterward proved his most 
inveterate enemies. • The Duke of Infantado, 
addressing him in the name of the grandees 
of Spain, said, 

" Sire, the Spaniards expect, from the reign 
of your Maj esty, all their happiness. They ar- 
dently desire your presence in Spain to fix 
ideas, to conciliate all interests, and to establish 
that order so necessary for the regeneration of 
the country. Sire, the grandees of Spain have 
always been distinguished by their fidelity to 
their sovereigns. Your Majesty will experi- 
ence this, as also our personal affection. Ee- 
ceive, sire, these testimonies of our loyalty 
with that kindliness so well known by your 
people of Naples, the renown of which has 
reached even to us." 

The deputation of the Eoyal Council of Cas- 
tile said to the new King: "Sire, your Maj- 
esty is a branch of a family destined by 
Heaven to reign. May Heaven grant that our 
prayers may be heard, and that your Majesty 



212 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Letter from Ferdinand. 



may become the most happy King in the uni- 
verse, as we desire for him in the name of the 
supreme tribunal of which we are the deputies." 

Even the Inquisitor, Don Eaymond Esten- 
hard, organ of the councils of the Inquisition, 
declared in their name " that they were full 
of fidelity and of affection ; that they offered 
their prayers for Joseph, who was charged to 
govern the country, that he might find happi- 
ness in his own heart by contributing to the 
happiness of his subjects, and that he might 
elevate them to that degree of prosperity 
which might be expected from him, particular- 
ly when aided by the genius and power of his 
august brother, ISTapoleon the Great." 

The Duke of Pargue, at the head of a depu- 
tation representing the army, gave the same 
assurances of homage and support. Even Fer- 
dinand wrote Joseph a letter of congratulation, 
dated Yalengay, June 22. It was as follows : 

"Sire, — Permit me,inthe name of my broth- 
er and of my uncle,' as well as in my own, to tes- 
tify to your Majesty the part which we have 
taken in his induction to the throne of ^pain. 
The object of all our desires having ever been 
the happiness of the generous nation which he 
^ Don Carlos and Don Antonio. 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 213 



A Constitution adopted. 



is called to govern, that happiness is now com- 
plete, in view of the accession to the throne of 
Spain of a prince whose virtues have rendered 
him so dear to the Neapolitans. We hope 
your Majesty will accept our prayers for his 
happiness, to which is united that of our coun- 
try, and that he will grant to us his friend- 
ship, to which we are entitled, for the friend- 
ship which we feel for your Majesty. I pray 
your Catholic Majesty to receive the oath 
which I owe him as King of Spain, and also 
the oath of the Spaniards who are now with 
me. From your Catholic Majesty's affection- 
ate brother." 

The Constitutional Junta of Spain com- 
menced its session at Bayonne on the 15th of 
June. Ninety-one members were present. A 
constitution was presented very much resem- 
bling that which had been conferred upon Na- 
ples. It was discussed and voted upon with 
perfect freedom. Finally, on the 7th of July, 
it was accepted as amended by the signature 
of all the members; "considering," as the act 
said, "that we are convinced that under the 
regime which the Constitution establishes, and 
under the government of a prince as just as the 
one whom we have the happiness to possess, 



214 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Joaeph leaves Bayonne. 



Spain and all its possessions will be as happy 
as we can desire it to be." 

The Constitution being accepted, Joseph ap- 
pointed his ministry and constituted his court; 
placing all. the important offices in the hands 
of distinguished Spaniards. On the 9th of 
July Joseph left Bayonne and entered Spain, 
accompanied by the members of the Junta, 
many grandees of Spain, his ministers, and the 
officers of his household. 

Many have reproached Joseph for having 
accepted the crown. But it should be remem- 
bered that when he arrived at Bayonne, the 
treaty of abdication by the Spanish princes had 
already been signed. An assemblage of Span- 
ish notables met him there, and entreated him 
to accept the crown, to rescue Spain from ruin. 
There seemed to be no dissent from the opinion 
that his presence would be the signal of peace 
and harmony, that it would calm agitation, and 
unite all parties. In a word, they declared 
that it was the only way to rescue the country 
from anarchy, and from those calamities which 
menaced its entire ruin. The intelligence of 
the nation exulted in the change, as promising 
a new era of equality and prosperity. 

On the 20th of July Joseph arrived in Ma- 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 215 

Efforts of the Monks. 

» 

drid. There were about eighty thousand 
French, troops in Spain. Much to Joseph's 
surprise and disappointment, he found, all over 
the kingdom, in the provinces, insurrection 
rising against him. These scattered bands soon 
amounted, it was estimated, to one hundred 
and fifty thousand men. The fanatic monks, 
alarmed in view of the changes which had 
been effected in Naples, were very active in 
rousing the peasantry to resistance. The Brit- 
ish Government, which was then at war with 
Spain because it was the ally of Napoleon, in- 
stantly espoused the cause of the insurgents, 
and contributed all its energies of fleet and 
army and money to drive Joseph out of Spain. 
The new sovereign had entered Madrid 
without being greeted with any signal demon- 
strations of enthusiasm. In accordance with 
the established etiquette of the realm, he was 
received at the foot of the grand stairs of the 
palace by the nobility of the country, and was 
proclaimed king in the public squares and prin- 
cipal streets of Madrid with the accustomed 
ceremonies upon the advent of anew sovereign. 
Intensely occupied with the cares of his new 
.government, Joseph did not, for some time, ful- 
ly comprehend the perils which menaced him. 



216 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Insurre(;^ions. Disappointment of Joseph. 

Step by step he was led on, as he quelled here 
and there a popular insurrection, until he found 
himself involved in a stern war with the great 
mass of the Spanish peasantry, with all the 
priesthood fanning the flames of opposition, and 
the British Government energetically co-opera- 
ting with purse and sword. It would require 
volumes to describe, with any degree of mi- 
nuteness, the tremendous struggle. Napier has 
performed that task in his immortal work upon 
the Peninsular War. 

Joseph soon awoke to a full realization of 
the peril of his position. On the 18th of July 
he wrote to the Emperor from Burgos at three 
o'clock in the morning, "It seems to me that 
no person has been willing to tell the exact 
truth to your Majesty. I ought not to con- 
ceal it. The task undertaken is very great. 
To accomplish it with honor will require im- 
mense resources. Fear does not make me see 
double. 

" In leaving Naples, I have indeed yielded 
my life to the most hazardous events. My life 
is of but little consequence. I surrender it to 
you. But in order not to live with the shame 
attached to failure, great resources are requi- 
site in men and money. I am not alarmed, in 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 217 

The Friends of Joseph overawed and silenced. 

view of mj position. But it is miique in his- 
tory. I have not here a single partisan." 

Again, on the 19th, he wrote, "It is evi- 
dent that we have not the soil, since all the 
provinces are in insurrection or occupied by 
considerable armies of the enemy." 

On the 28th of July he wrote, "I have no 
need to inform your Majesty that one hundred 
thousand men are necessary to conquer Spain. 
I repeat it, that we have not a partisan, and the 
entire nation is exasperated, and decided to 
sustain with arms the part which it has em- 
braced." 

" All my Spanish officers except five or six 
have abandoned me. The disposition of the 
nation is unanimous against that which has 
been done at Bayonne." 

On the 6th of August he wrote^ "Your 
Majesty recommends me to be happy. Never 
have I been so tranquil and so well, and so in- 
defatigable ; and if I have occasion to envy in 
your Majesty a superior genius which has al- 
ways enabled him to command victory, I have 
that in common with all the world. But I 
have no need to envy any person for composure 
and tranquillity of soul. And I must avow 
that I find that adversity enables me to ex- 



218 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Encouragement from the Emperor. 



perience a sentiment which, is not without a 
pertain charm ; it is to be above adversity." 

The Emperor endeavored to cheer his de- 
spondent brother with hopeful words. On the 
19th of July he wrote him, " I see with pain 
that you are troubled. It is the only misfor- 
tune which I fear. You have a great many 
partisans in Spain, but they are intimidated. 
They are all the honest people. I do not the 
less admit that your task is great and glori- 
ous. You ought not to consider it extraordi- 
nary that you have to conquer your kingdom. 
Philip Y. and Henry TV. were obliged to con- 
quer theirs. Be happy. Do not permit your- 
self to be easily affected, and do not doubt for 
an instant that every thing will end sooner and 
more happily than you think." 

Again, on the 1st of August, ISTapoleon 
wrote, "Whatever reverses fortune may have in 
store for you, do not be uneasy ; in a short time 
you will have more than one hundred thousand 
men. All is in motion, but it must have time. 
You will reign. You will have conquered 
your subjects, in order to become their father. 
The best of kings have passed through this 
school. Above all, health to you and happi- 
ness, that is to say, strength of mind." 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 219 

Capitulation of Junot. 

On the 3d of August the Emperor again 
wrote, "You can not think, my friend, how 
much pain the idea gives me, that you are 
struggling with events as much above what 
you are accustomed to, as they are beneath 
your natural character. . . . Tell me that you 
are well, in good spirits, and are becoming ac- 
customed to the soldier's trade. You have a 
fine opportunity to study it." 

General Junot, with a small French force, at 
that time held possession of Portugal. The 
Cabinet of Saint James offered to the Spanish 
Junta at Seville to send an army of about 
thirty thousand men to co-operate with the 
Spaniards in their struggle against the French. 
For some unknown reason the offer was de- 
clined, and the troops were sent to Portugal. 
These British troops, acting in vigorous co-op- 
eration with the Portuguese, greatly outnum- 
bered the French, and, after a severe battle at 
Torres Yedras, Junot capitulated at the Con- 
vention of Cintra, and his army re-embarked, 
and was transported to France. This event 
added greatly to the embarrassment of Joseph. 
Junot had afforded him much moral and even 
material support. Kow Jun5t was driven from 
the Peninsula, and a British army of over 



220 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

Napoleon aroused. 

thirty thousand men, under the ablest officers, 
and fkished with victory, was on the frontiers 
of Spain, ready in every way to co-operate with 
the Spaniards. 

This roused Napoleon. He was the last 
man to recoil before difficulties. He had the 
honor of his arms to avenge, and his policy to 
justify by success. Never before, in the histo- 
ry of the world, was there such a display of 
energy, sagacity, and power. He well knew 
that all dynastic Europe was hostile to those 
principles of popular liberty which were rep- 
resented by his name, and that, notwithstand- 
ing the obligations of treaties, they were ever 
ready to spring to arms against him whenever 
they should see an opportunity to strike him a 
fatal blow. 

Napoleon at once ordered eighty thousand 
veteran troops of the grand army from the north 
to assemble at Bayonne. He hastened to Er- 
furt to hold an interview with Alexander to 
strengthen their alliance, and to prevent, if 
possible, a new coalition from being formed 
against him while absent with his troops in 
Spain. The Spanish insurgents, as they were 
called — for they h*ad no established government 
— were everywhere triumphant. The French 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 221 

Peril of Joseph's Government. 

army was driven out of Madrid, and, in a state 
of great destitution, was standing on the de- 
fensive. Joseph and all his generals were 
thoroughly disheartened, and were only anx- 
ious to devise some honorable way by which 
they could abandon- the enterprise. The 
priests, with a crucifix in one hand and a dag- 
ger in the other, had traversed the realms of 
Spain and Portugal, rousing the religious fa- 
naticism of the unenlightened masses almost to 
frenzy. Charles lY., his Queen, and Ferdi- 
nand had all been intensely devoted to the in- 
terests of the Church. The French were rep- 
resented as infidels, and as the foes of the 
Church. The whole nation was roused against 
them. Even the women took an active part 
in the conflict, perilling their own lives upon 
the field, and inspiring the men with the cour- 
age of desperation. The English, victorious 
in Portugal, were now welcomed into Spain. 
They lavished their gold in paying the Spanish 
armies. Their fleet was busy in transporting 
supplies. To all Europe the position of Jo- 
seph seemed utterly hopeless. 

On the 25th of October, Napoleon, on the 
eve of leaving Paris for Spain, said, at the 
opening of the Legislative Corps : 



222 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 

_» I 

Speech to the Legislative Corps, 

" A part of my troops are marching against 
the armies which England has formed or dis- 
embarked in Spain. It is an especial favor of 
Providence, which has constantly protected our 
arras, that passion has so blinded the counsels 
of the English, that they have renounced the 
protection of the seas, and at length present 
their armies on the Continent. 

" I leave in a few days, to place myself at 
the head of my army, and, with the aid of God, 
to crown in Madrid the King of Spain, and to 
plant my eagles upon the forts of Lisbon. " 

" The Emperor of Eussia and I have met 
at Erfurt. Our first thought has been of 
peace. We have even resolved to make many 
sacrifices that, if possible, the hundred millions 
of men whom we represent may enjoy the ben- 
efits of maritime commerce. We are in per- 
fect harmony, and unchangeably united for 
peace as for war." 

In the mean time Joseph, struggling heroi- 
cally against adversity, and exceedingly em- 
barrassed by the false position in which he 
found himself placed, received many consoling 
messages of confidence and affection from 
prominent men in the Spanish nation. We 
present the following extract from a letter ad- 



1808.] Joseph King- of Spain. 223 

The marvellous Energy of Napoleon. 

dressed to him on the 2d of September, 1808, 
by M. M. Azanza and Urquijo, as a specimen 
of many others which might be quoted : 

" We do not doubt that your Majesty con- 
templates, with deepest grief, the disasters with 
which Spain is menaced, by the obstinacy of 
those people who will not know the true inter- 
ests of the realm. But at least no one is ig- 
norant that your Majesty has done and is do- 
ing every thing which is humanly possible to 
avoid such calamities for his subjects. The 
day will come when they will recognize the 
benevolent intentions and paternal kindness 
of your Majesty ; and they will respond to it 
by testimonies of gratitude and of fidelity 
which will fill with contentment the noble 
heart of your Majesty." 

The almost supernatural power of the Em- 
peror was never more conspicuously displayed 
than in the brief, triumphant, overwhelming 
campaign which ensued. He wrote to Joseph 
from Erfurt, " I leave to-morrow for Paris, and 
within a month shall be at Bayonne. Send 
me the exact position of the "army, that I may 
form a definite organization by making as lit- 
tle displacement as possible. In the present 
state of affairs, we may conclude that the pre- 



224 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Napoleon visits Spain. 



sumption of the enemy will lead him ' to re- 
main in the positions which he now occupies. 
The nearer he remains to us the better it will 
be. The war can be terminated in a single 
blow by a skillfully-combined manoeuvre, and 
for that it is necessary that I should be there." 

The single blow Napoleon contemplated 
would unquestionably have annihilated his 
foes, but for an inopportune movement of Mar- 
shal Lefebre. As it was, it required three or 
four blows, which were delivered with stun- 
ning and bewildering power and rapidity. Gn 
the 29 th of October Napoleon took his car- 
riage for Bayonne. Madrid was distant from 
Paris about seven hundred miles. The rains 
of approaching winter had deluged the roads. 
He soon abandoned his carriage, and mounted 
his horse. Apparently insensible to exposure 
or fatigue, he pressed forward by night and by 
day, until, at two o'clock in the morning of the 
3d of November, he reached Bayonne. He 
found that his orders had not been obeyed, and 
that the troops, instead of being concentrated, 
had been dispersed. Instantly, at the very 
hour of his arrival, new life was infused into 
every thing. He seemed by instinct to com- 
prehend the posture of affairs, and to know 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 225 

Spanish Boasting. 

just what was to be done. Orders were is- 
sued with amazing rapidity ; couriers flew in 
all directions. Barracks were erected; the 
troops were reviewed ; unexecuted contracts 
were thrown up; agents were sent in every 
direction to purchase all the cloths in the 
south of France; hundreds of hands were busy 
in cutting and making garments ; and at the 
close of a day of such work as few mortals 
have ever accomplished, Napoleon leaped into 
his saddle and galloped sixty miles over the 
mountains to Tolosa, on the Spanish side of 
the Pyrenees. Here he indulged in an hour 
or two of rest, and then galloped on thirty 
miles farther to Vittoria. He encamped with 
the Imperial Guard outside of the city. 

The Spaniards have always been accused 
of a tendency to vainglorious boasting. The 
trivial successes which they had attained, in 
alliance with the English, quite intoxicated 
them. " We have conquered," they said, " the 
armies of the great Napoleon. We will soon 
trample all his hosts in the dust. With an 
army of five hundred thousand indignant 
Spaniards we will march upon Paris, and sack 
the city. The powers of Russia, Austria, and 
Prussia have fallen before Napoleon; but 

15 



226 Joseph Bonapaete. [1808. 

Tlie triumphant March of the Emperor. 

Spanish peasants, headed by the priests and the 
monks, will rolj back the tide of victory." 
Such was the insane boasting. 

Napoleon was, at the same time, the boldest 
and the most cautious of generals. He ever 
made provision for every possible reverse. 
Stationing • two strong forces to guard his 
flanks, he took fifty thousand of the elite of 
his army, and plunged upon the centre of the 
Spanish troops. Such an onset none but vet- 
erans could withstand. There was scarcely 
the semblance of a battle. The Spaniards fled, 
throwing down their arms, and leaping like 
goats amidst the crags of the mountains. 
Pressing resistlessly forward, Napoleon reach- 
ed Burgos on the night of the 11th. Here the 
Spaniards attempted another stand upon some 
strongly intrenched heights. A brief conflict 
scattered them in the wildest confusion, defeat- 
ed, disbanded, leaving cannon, muskets, flags, 
and munitions of war. 

Onward he swept, without a check, without 
delay, crushing, overwhelming, scattering his 
foes, over the intrenched heights of Bspinosa, 
through the smouldering streets of the town, 
across the bridge of Trueba, choked with terri- 
fied fugitives, through the pass of Somosierra, 



1808.] Joseph King of Spain. 227 

Napoleon enters Madrid. 

in one of the most astounding achievements 
which war has ever witnessed, till he led his 
victorious troops, with no foe within his reach, 
into the streets of Madrid. He commenced 
the campaign at Yittoria on the 9th of No- 
vember, and on the 4th of December his army 
was encamped in the squares of the Spanish 
metropolis. Europe gazed upon this meteoric 
phenomenon with astonishment and alarm. 

The Spanish populace had been roused 
mainly by the priests. In their frenzy, burn- 
ing and assassinating, they overawed all who 
were in favor of regenerating Spain by a change 
of dynasty. It is the undisputed testimony 
that the proprietors, the merchants, the inhab- 
itants generally who were rich, or in easy cir- 
cumstances, and even the magistrates and mili- 
tary chiefs, were quite disposed to listen to the 
propositions of the Emperor. But overawed 
by the populace, who threatened to carry things 
to the last extremity, they dared not manifest 
their sentiments. 

As the French army took possession of the 
city, order was immediately restored. The the- 
atres were re-opened, the shops displayed their 
wares, the tides of business and pleasure flowed 
unobstructed along the streets. Numerous dep- 



228 Joseph Bonapaete. [1808. 



Proclamation of Napoleon. 



utations, embracing the most wealthy and re- 
spectable inhabitants of Madrid, waited upon 
the Emperor with their congratulations, and re- 
newed their protestations of fidelity to Joseph. 
The Emperor then issued a proclamation to 
the Spanish nation, in which he said, 

" I have declared, in a proclamation of the 
2d of June, that I wished to be the regenerator 
of Spain. To the rights which the princes of 
the ancient dynasties have ceded to me, you 
have wished that I should add ,the rights of 
conquest. That, however, shall not change my 
inclination to serve you. I wish to encourage 
every thing that is noble in your exertions. 
All that is opposed to your prosperity and 
your grandeur I wish to destroy. The shack- 
les which have enslaved the people I have 
broken. I have given you a liberal constitu- 
tion, and, in the place of an absolute monarchy, 
a monarchy mild and limited. It depends 
upon yourselves whether that constitution shall 
still be your law." 



1808.] The Spanish Campaign. 229 

Retreat of Sk John Moore and Sir David Buird. 



CHAPTEE YIII. 

THE SPANISH CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON. 

IN" less than five weeks from the time when 
Napoleon first placed his foot upon the soil 
of Spain he was master of more than half the 
kingdom. Sir John Moore, with an army of 
about 80,000 Englishmen, was marching rapid- 
ly from Portugal, to form a junction with an- 
other English army of about 10,000 men un- 
der Sir David Baird, who were advancing from 
Corunna. It was supposed in England that 
the co-operation of these highly-disciplined 
troops with the masses of the Spaniards who 
had already fought so valiantly, would speedily 
secure the overthrow of the French. 

But when Sir John Moore and Sir David 
Baird learned that Napoleon himself was in 
Spain, that he had scattered the Spanish armies 
before him as the tornado drives the withered 
leaves of the forest, that he was already in 
possession of Madrid, and would soon be ready 
to direct all his energies against them, they 
were both greatly alarmed, and, turning about, 
fled precipitately back to their ships. A depu- 



230 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



The Spanish Deputation. 



tation of about twelve hundred of the notables 
of Spain called upon Napoleon, to confer with 
him respecting the affairs of the kingdom. He 
informed them very fully of the benefits he 
wished to confer upon Spain by rescuing the 
people from the dominion of the old feudal 
lords, and bringing them into harmony with 
the more enlightened views of modern times. 
He closed his remarks to them by saying, 

" The present generation will differ in opinion 
respecting me. Too many passions have been 
called into exercise. But your posterity will 
be grateful to me as their regenerator. They 
will place in the number of memorable days 
those in which I have appeared among you. 
From those days will be dated the prosperity 
of Spain. These are my sentiments. Go con- 
sult your fellow-citizens. Choose your part, 
but do it frankly, and exhibit only true colors." 

Greneral Moore was retreating toward Corun- 
na. An English fleet had repaired to that port 
to receive the troops on board. On the 22d oi 
December ISTapoleon left Madrid, with 40,000 
men, to pursue the flying foe. The Spaniards, 
instead of rallying to the support of the Eng- 
lish, whom they never loved, dispersed in all 
directions, leaving them to their fate. " The 



1808.] The Spanish Campaign. 231 

Anecdote of Napoleon. 

Spanish insurgents," says Napier," were con- 
scious that they were fighting the battles of 
England. To restore Spain to Ferdinand, Eng- 
land expended one hundred millions sterling 
($500,000,000) on her own operations. She 
subsidized Spain and Portugal besides, and 
with her supply of clothing, arms, and ammuni- 
tion, maintained the armies of both, even to 
the guerrillas."' 

By forced marches the Imperial troops rush- 
ed along, threading the defiles of the mount- 
ains of Graudarrama in mid-winter, through 
drifts and storms of snow. Napoleon climbed 
the mountains on foot, sharing all the toil and 
peril of his troops. Such a leader any army 
would follow with enthusiasm. In one of the 
wildest passes of the mountains he passed a 
night in a miserable hut. Savary, who was 
with him, writes : 

"The single mule which carried his bag-' 
gage was brought to this wretched house. He 
was provided with a good fire, a tolerable sup- 
per, and a bed. On those occasions the Em- 
peror was not selfish. He was quite unmind- 
ful of the next day's wants when he alone was 
concerned. He shared his supper and his fire 

* Napier, vol. iii. p. 78, vol. iv. p. 438. 



232 Joseph Bonaparte. [1808. 



Atrocities of the English. 



with all who had been able to keep up with 
him, and even compelled those to eat whose 
reserve kept them back." 

General Moore was straining every nerve 
to escape. The weather was frightful, and the 
miry roads almost impassable. The advance- 
guard of Napoleon was soon within a day's 
march of the foe. General Moore, as he fled, 
blew up the bridges behind him, and reckless- 
ly plundered the wretched inhabitants. His 
troops became exceedingly exasperated against 
the Spaniards for their cowardly desertion, and 
reproached them with ingratitude. 

" We ungrateful !" the Spaniards replied ; 
"you came here to serve your own interests, 
and now you are running away without de- 
fending us." 

So bitter was the hostility which thus arose 
between the English and the Spaniards, and 
the brutality of the drunken English soldiers 
was so insupportable, that the Spaniards often 
welcomed the Erench troops, who were under 
far better discipline, as their deliverers. Sir 
Archibald Alison, in his account of these 
scenes, says : 

" The native and uneradicable vice of north- 
ern climates, drunkenness, here appeared in 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 233 

Testimony of Alison. Napoleon at Astorga. 

frightful colors. The great wine-vaults of 
Bembibre proved more fatal than the sword of 
the enemy. And when the gallant rear-guard, 
which preserved its ranks unbroken, closed up 
the array, they had to force their way through 
a motley crowd of English and Spanish sol- 
diers, stragglers and marauders, who reeled out 
of the houses in disgusting crowds, or lay 
•stretched upon the roadside, an easy prey to 
the enemy's cavalry, which thundered in close 
pursuit. 

"The condition of the army became daily 
more deplorable ; the frost had been succeeded 
by the thaw ; rain and sleet fell in torrents ; the 
roads were almost broken up ; the horses foun- 
dered at pvery step ; the few artillery- wagons 
which had kept up fell, one by one, to the 
rear; and being immediately blown up to pre- 
vent their falling into the hands of the enemy, 
gave melancholy tokens, by the sound of their 
explosions, of the work of destruction which 
was going on." 

On the 2d of January Napoleon's advance- 
guard bad reached Astorga. Notwithstanding 
the condition of the roads, and all the efforts 
of the retreating foe, an army of forty thousand 
men had marched two hundred miles in ten 



234: Joseph Bonapaete. [1809. 



A new Coalition. 



days. It was a cold and stormy winter morn- 
ing when Napoleon left Astorga,-in continu- 
ance of the pursuit. He had proceeded but a 
few miles on horseback, when he was overta- 
ken by a courier from France, bearing impor- 
tant dispatches. The Emperor alighted by the 
roadside, and, standing by a fire which his at- 
tendants kindled, read the documents. His of- 
ficers gathered anxiously around him, watching 
the expression of his countenance as he read. 

The dispatches informed ISTapoleon that 
Austria had entered into a new alliance with 
England to attack him on the north, and that 
the probability was, that Turkey, exasperated 
by Napoleon's alliance with Eussia, would also 
be drawn into the coalition. It *was also 
stated that, though Alexander personally was 
strong in his friendship for Napoleon, the Eus- 
sian nobles, hostile to the principle of equal 
rights, inscribed upon the French banners, were 
raising an opposition of such daily increasing 
strength, that it was feared the Czar also might 
be compelled to join in the new crusade against 
France. 

To conduct the war in Spain, Napoleon had 
withdrawn one hundred thousand of his best 
troops from the Ehine. His frontiers were 



laoa] The Spanish Campaign. 235 

Anxiety of the Emperor. 

thus greatly exposed. For a moment it was 
said that Napoleon was staggered by the blow. 
The vision of another European war, France 
struggling single-handed against all the com- 
bined powers of the Continent, appalled him. 
Slowly, sadly he rode back to Astorga, deeply 
pondering the awful question. There was 
clearly but. one of two courses before him. He 
must either ignobly abandon the conflict in fa- 
vor of equality of rights, and allow the chains 
of the old feudal despotism to be again riveted 
upon France, and all the new governments in 
sympathy with France, or he must struggle 
manfully to the end. All around him were 
impressed with the utter absorption of his 
mind in these thoughts. As he rode back 
with his retinue, not a word was spoken. Na- 
poleon seldom asked advice. 

Soon his decision was formed, and all de- 
jection and hesitation disappeared. It was 
necessary for him immediately to direct all his 
energies toward the Ehine. He consequently 
relinquished the personal pursuit of the Eng- 
lish; and commissioning Marshal Soult to 
press them with all vigor, he prepared to return 
to France. Eapidly retracing his steps to Yal- 
ladolid, he spent five days in giving the most 



236 Joseph Bonapaete. [18Q9. 

New Year's Wishes. Napoleon's RespDnse. 

minute directions for the movements of the 
army, and for the administration of affairs in 
Spain. In those few days he performed an 
amount of labor which seems incredible. He 
had armies in France, Spain, Italy, and Ger- 
many, and he guided all their movements, even 
to the minute details. 

On the first day of the year Joseph had 
written to Napoleon, and, in the expression of 
those kindly sympathies which the advent of a 
new year awakens, had said, " I pray your Maj- 
esty to accept my wishes that, in the course of 
this year, Europe, pacified by your efforts, may 
render justice to your intentions." 

Napoleon replied, " I thank you for what 
you say relative to the new year. I do not 
hope that Europe can this year be pacified. 
So little do I hope it, that I have just issued a 
decree for levying one hundred thousand men. 
The rancor of England, the events of Constan- 
tinople, every thing, in short, indicates that the 
hour of rest and quiet is not arrived." 

The Emperor, having finished his dispatch- 
es at Yalladolid, mounted his horse, and set out 
for Paris. Mr. J. T. Ileadley thus describes 
this marvellous ride : 

"In the first five hours he rode the aston- 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 237 

Magnanimity of Napoleon. 

ishing distance of eighty-five miles, or seven- 
teen miles the hour. This wild gallop was long 
remembered by the inhabitants of the towns 
through which the smoking cavalcade of the 
Emperor passed. Eelays of horses had been 
provided on the road ; and no sooner did he ar- 
rive at one post, than he flung himself on a fresh 
horse, and, sinking his spurs in his flanks, dash- 
ed away in headlong speed. Few who saw 
that short figure, surmounted with a plain cha- 
peau", sweep by on that day, ever forgot it. 
His pale face was calm as marble, but his lips 
were compressed, and his brow knit like iron ; 
while his flashing eye, as he leaned forward, 
still jerking impatiently at the bridle as if to 
accelerate his speed, seemed to devour the dis- 
tance. No one spoke, but the whole suite 
strained forward in the breathless race. The 
gallant chasseurs had never had so long and so 
wild a ride before." 

Napoleon had acted a very noble part 
toward his brother. The masses of the Span- 
ish people were very ignorant and fanatical. 
The priests, wielding over them supernatural 
terrors, controlled them at will. There were 
certain reforms which were essential to the re- 
generation of Spain. But these reforms would 



238 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Reforms introduced. 



exasperate the priests, and, through them, the 
people. Napoleon, anxious to save his brother 
from the odium of these necessary measures, 
took the responsibility of them upon himself. 
He issued a series of decrees when he entered 
Madrid as a conqueror, and by virtue of the 
acknowledged rights of conquest, in which, 
after proclaiming pardon for all political of- 
fenses, he introduced the following reforms. 

The execrable institution of the Inquisition 
was abolished. The number of convents, 
which had been thronged with indolent monks, 
was reduced one-half. One-half of the proper- 
ty of these abolished convents was appropri- 
ated to the payment of the salary of the labor- 
ing clergy. The other halt was set apart to 
the payment of the public debt. The custom- 
houses between the several provinces of the 
kingdom, which had been a great source of na- 
tional embarrassment, were removed, and im- 
posts were collected only on the frontiers. All 
feudal privileges were annulled. 

These measures, of course, exasperated the 
priests and the nobles. Unfortunately the peo- 
ple were too ignorant to appreciate their full 
value. As Joseph returned to Madrid, under 
the protection of the arms of his imperial 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 239 

Escape of Sir John Moore. 

brother, though the bells rang merrily, and 
pealing cannon uttered their voices of welcome, 
and though the most respectable portion of the 
middle class received him with satisfaction, 
there was no enthusiasm among the populace, 
and the clergy and the nobility received him 
with suspicion and dislike. The Emperor, 
upon his departure, had confided to Joseph the 
command of the army in Spain. But the great 
generals of Napoleon, ever ready to bow to the 
will of the Emperor, whose superiority they all 
.recognized, yielded a reluctant obedience to Jo- 
seph, whom they did not consider their superi- 
or in the art of war. 

Sir John Moore continued his precipitate 
flight, vigorously pursued by Marshal Soult. 
*' There was never," says Napier, "so complete 
an example of a disastrous retreat. Aban- 
doning their wagons, blowing up their ammu- 
nition, and strewing their path with the debris 
of an utterly routed army, they finally, with 
torn, bleeding, and greatly-diminished columns, 
escaped to their ships." 

The new coalition in Germany against Na- 
poleon rendering it necessary for him to with- 
draw a large part of his troops from Spain, 
greatly encouraged the foes of the new re- 



240 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 

Efforts of the British Government. 

gime. The British Government, animated by 
its success in inducing Austria again to co-ope- 
rate in an attack upon France, and sanguine in 
the hope of drawing Eussia and Turkey into the 
coalition, which would surely bring the armies 
of Prussia into the same line of battle, redoubled 
its efforts in Spain and Portugal. Emissaries 
were sent everywhere to rouse the populace. 
Gold was lavished, and arms and ammunition 
were transmitted by the British fleet to impor- 
tant points. 

A central junta was assembled at Seville. 
It issued a proclamation, calling upon the peo- 
ple everywhere to rise in guerrilla bands. The 
whole male population was summoned to the 
field. Death was the penalty denounced upon 
all those who, by word or deedj favored the 
French. Twenty thousand troops in Portugal 
were taken under British pay, and placed un- 
der British officers, so that, while nominally it 
was a Portuguese army, it was in reality but, a 
British force of mercenaries. Numerous trans- 
ports conveyed a large body of troops from Eng- 
land under Sir Arthur Wellesley, which was 
landed in Lisbon. 

Where the French army had control, there 
seemed to be a disposition, especially among 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 241 

Testimony of Alison. 

the most intelligent and opulent portion of tlie 
people, to accept the new regime of Joseph. 
The bitterest foe of Joseph will not deny that 
the reforms which he was endeavoring to in- 
troduce were admirable, and absolutely essen- 
tial to the regeneration of Spain. The British 
Government wished to restore the old regime 
under Ferdinand; for that Government was 
in sympathy with the British rule of aristocrat- 
ic privilege. The French Government wished 
to maintain the new regime under Joseph, be- 
cause that Government would bring Spain into 
sympathy with France, in her defensive strug- 
gle against the combined despotisms of Europe. 
Popular opinion in Spain seemed now to be 
upon one side, and again upon the other, ac- 
cording to the presence of the different armies. 
"At Madrid," says Alison, "Joseph reign- 
ed with the apparent consent of the nation. 
Eegisters having been open for the inscription 
of those who were favorable to his govern- 
ment, no less than twenty-eight thousand heads 
of families in a few days enrolled themselves. 
And deputations from the Municipal Council, 
tlie Council of the Indies, and all the incorpora- 
tions, waited upon him at Yalladolid, to entreat 
that he would return to the capital and reas- 

16 



242 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 

Fury of the Populace. 

sume the royal functions, to which he at length 
complied." 

At Saragossa, on the other hand, Joseph 
was opposed with persistence and bravery, 
which has rendered the siege of Saragossa one 
of the most memorable events in the annals of 
war. A very determined leader, Parafox, with 
about thirty thousand men, threw himself into 
that city. A proclamation was issued, declar- 
ing that no mercy would be shown to those 
who manifested any sympathy for the reign 
of Joseph. Suspicion was sufiicient to doom 
one to mob violence and a cruel death. 

" Terror," says Alison, " was summoned to 
the aid of loyalty. And the fearful engines of 
popular power, the scaffold and the gallows, 
were erected on the public square, where some 
unhappy wretches, suspected of a leaning to 
the enemy, were indignantly executed. 

'' The passions of the people were roused to 
the very highest pitch by the dread of treason, 
or any accommodation with the enemy. And 
popular vehemence, overwhelming all restraints 
of law or order, sacrificed almost every night 
persons to the blind suspicions of the multitude, 
who were found hanging in the morning on the 
gallows erected in the Corso and market-place." 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 243 



The Siege of Saragossa. 



The priests summoned the peasants from 
all the region around, so that soon there were 
fifty thousand armed men within the walls, in- 
spired by as determined a spirit of resistance 
as ever possessed the human heart. The siege 
was commenced about the middle of December 
with thirty-five thousand men, according to the 
statement of Napier. It is generally under- 
stood in warfare that one man, acting upon the 
defensive within a fortress, is equal to at least 
five men making the assault from the outside. 
But in the memorable siege of Saragossa, the 
besieged had a third more men than the be- 
siegers. Alison thinks Napier incorrect, and 
makes the besieging force forty-three thousand. 
This gives the besieged a superiority of seven 
thousand men. It surely speaks volumes for 
the courage and skill of the French army, that 
under such circumstances the siege could have 
been conducted to a successful issue, especially 
when the determination and bravery of the 
people of Saragossa are represented as almost 
without a parallel. 

The scenes of woe which ensued within the 
walls of Saragossa no pen can describe, no im- 
agination can conceive. In addition to the 
garrison of fifty thousand men, the city was 



244 Joseph Bonapaete. [1809. 



Savagery of Armies. 



crowded with women and children, the aged 
and the infirm. For fifty days the storm of 
war raged, with scarcely a moment's intermis- 
sion. Thirty-three thousand cannon shots and 
sixteen thousand bombs were thrown into the 
thronged streets. Fifty-four thousand human 
beings perished in the city during these fifty 
days — more than a thousand a day. Many 
perished of famine and of pestilence. When 
the French marched into the town, there were 
six thousand dead still unburied. There were 
sixteen thousand helplessly sick, and many of 
them dying. Only twelve thousand of the gar- 
rison remained, pale, emaciate, skeleton men, 
who, as captives of war, were conveyed to 
France. When we reflect that all this hero- 
ism and bravery were displayed, and all these 
unspeakable woes endured, to re-introduce the 
reign of as despicable a monarch as ever sat 
upon a throne, and to rivet the chains of des- 
potism upon an ignorant, debased, and enslaved 
people, one can not but mourn over the sad 
lot of humanity. 

The rank and file of armies is never com- 
posed of men of affectionate, humane, and an- 
gelic natures. It is the tiger in the man which 
makes the reckless soldier. Familiarity with 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign, 245 

Discouragement of the Spaniards. 

crime, outrage, misery, renders the soul cal- 
lous. There is no rigor of army discipline 
which can prevent atrocities that should cause 
even fiends to blush. The story of the sweep 
of armies never can be truly told. 

As all the physical strength of the region 
for leagues around Saragossa had been gather- 
ed in that city, its fall secured the submission 
of the surrounding country. Lannes was call- 
ed to join the grand army in Germany. Junot, 
who was left in command of the troops at Sar- 
agossa, prepared for an expedition against Va- 
lencia. City after city passed, with scarcely 
any resistance, into the hands of the French. 
The campaign in Germany rendered it neces- 
sary for Napoleon to withdraw all his best 
troops, leaving Joseph to maintain his position 
in Spain, with a motley group of Italians, 
Swiss, and Germans, who were by no means 
inspired either with the political intelligence 
or the martial enthusiasm of the French. 

The Spanish peasants, depressed by failure, 
and inspired, not by intelligent conviction, 
but by momentary religious fanaticism, threw 
down their arms and returned to their homes. 
There was but little integrity or sense of honor 
to be found in Spain, long demoralized by a 



246 Joseph Bonapaete. [1809. 



Victory of General St. Cyr, 



wretched government ; and tlie immense sup- 
plies which England furnished were embez- 
zled or misapplied. The Spaniards are not 
cowards. The feeble resistance they often 
made proved that they took but little interest 
in the issues of the war. Ferdinand had done 
nothing to win their regard. But he was a 
Spanish prince, in the regular line of descent 
from their ancient kings. Joseph Bonaparte 
was a stranger, a foreigner, about to be im- 
posed upon them by the aid of foreign arms. 
It was easy, under these circumstances, to rouse 
a transient impulse for Ferdinand, but not an 
abiding devotion. 

General Dahesme was in Barcelona with ^ 
few thousand troops, cut off from communica- 
tion with his friends by the English fleet, and 
a large army of Spanish peasants which was 
collected to secure his capture. General St. 
Cyr, with about sixteen thousand infantry and 
cavalry, marched to his relief In a narrow 
defile, amidst rocks and forests, he encountered 
a Spanish force forty thousand strong, drawn 
up in a most favorable position to arrest his 
progress. St. Cyr formed his troops in one 
solid mass, and charging headlong, without fir- 
ing a shot, in half an hour dispersed the foe, 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 247 

French Victories. 

killing five hundred, wounding two thousand, 
and capturing all their artillery and ammuni- 
tion. The next day St. Cyr entered Barcelona. 
The Spaniards were so utterly dispersed that 
not ten thousand men could be re-assembled 
two days after the battle. 

But the English fleet was upon the coast, 
with encouragement and abundant supplies. 
After a little while, another Spanish army, 
twenty thousand strong, was rendezvoused at 
Molinas del Key.' St. Cyr again fell upon 
these troops. They fled so precipitately that 
but few were hurt. Their supplies, which the 
British had furnished them, were left upon the 
field. St. Cyr gathered up fifty pieces of can- 
non, three million cartridges, sixty thousand 
pounds of powder, and a magazine containing 
thirty thousand stand of English arms. Lord 
Collingwood, who commanded the British fleet, 
declared that all the elements of resistance in 
the province were dissolved. These events 
took place just before the fall of Saragossa. 

In the middle of February of this year, 
1809, St. Cyr had twenty -three thousand men 
concentrated at Villa Franca. Forty thousand 
Spaniards were collected to attack him. Al- 
most contemptuously, he took eleven thousand 



248 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Desolations of War. 



of his troops, surprised the Spaniards, and scat- 
tered them in the wildest flight. He pursued 
the fugitives, and wherever they made a stand 
dispersed them with but little effort or loss 
upon his own side. There was no longer any 
regular resistance in Catalonia, though guer- 
rilla bands still prowled about the country. 

Thus the wretched, desolating warfare raged, 
month after month. Nothing of importance 
toward securing the abiding triumph of either 
party was gained. Whenev'er the French army 
withdrew from any section of country, British 
officers entered, to re-organize, with the aid of 
the Spanish priests, the peasants to renewed 
opposition, and British gold was lavished in 
paying the soldiers. Junot was taken sick, and 
Suchet, whom Napoleon characterized at Saint 
Helena as the first of his generals, was placed 
in command. We have not space to describe 
the numerous battles which were fought, and 
the patience of our readers would be exhausted 
by the dreary narration. The siege of Gerona 
by St. Cyr occupied seven months. 

Joseph was still in Madrid. As we have 
said, the more intelligent and opulent classes 
rallied around him. Sir Archibald Alison, 
ever the advocate of aristocratic privilege, while 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 249 

Testimony of Alison. 

admitting the fact of Joseph's, apparent popu- 
larity in Madrid, in the following strain of re- 
mark endeavors to explain that fact : 

"Addresses had been forwarded to Joseph 
Bonaparte at Yalladolid from all the incorpo- 
rations and influential bodies at Madrid, invit- 
ing him to return to the capital and resume the 
reins of government. Registers had been open- 
ed in different parts of the city for those citizens 
to inscribe their names who were favorable to 
his cause. In a few days thirty thousand sig- 
natures, chiefly of the more opulent classes, had 
been inscribed on the lists. In obedience to 
these flattering invitations, the intrusive King 
had entered the capital with great pomp, amidst 
the discharge of a hundred pieces of cannon, 
and numerous, if not heartfelt, demonstrations 
of public satisfaction; a memorable example of 
the effect of the acquisition of wealth, and the 
enjoyments of luxury, in enervating the minds 
of their possessors, and of the difference be- 
tween the patriotic energy of those classes who, 
having little to lose, yield to ardent sentiments 
without reflection, and those in whom the sug- 
gestions of interest and the habits of indulgence 
have stifled the generous emotions of nature." 

The great defect in Joseph's character as an 



250 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Joseph's mistaken Views. 



executive officer, under the circumstances in 
which, he was placed, was his apparent inabili- 
ty fully to comprehend the grandeur of Napo- 
leon's conceptions. Instead of looking upon 
Spain as an essential part of the majestic whole, 
and which, by its money and its armies, must aid 
in sustaining the new principle of equal rights 
for all, he forgot the general cause, and sought 
only to promote the interests of his own king- 
dom. JSTapoleon, having secured the reign of 
the new regime of equality in France, in an- 
tagonism to the old regime of privilege, imme- 
diately found all Europe banded against him. 
France could not stand alone against such an- 
tagonism. Hence it became essential that alli- 
ances should be formed for mutual protection. 
The genius of Napoleon was of necessity the 
controlling element in these alliances. 

In that view, he had enlarged and strength- 
ened the boundaries of France. He had crea- 
ted the kingdoms of Italy and Naples. He had, 
impelled by the instinct of self-preservation, 
bought out the treacherous Bourbons of Spain, 
and was endeavoring to lift up the Spaniards 
from ages of depressing despotism, that Spain, 
under an enlightened ruler, rejoicing in the in- 
telligence and prosperity which existed under 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 251 

The Hostility of the Allies to Napoleon personally. 

all the new governments, miglit contribute its 
support to the system of equal rights through- 
out Europe. 

England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and the 
aristocratic party throughout all Europe, were 
in deadly hostility to the principle of abolish- 
ing privileged classes, and instituting equal 
rights for all. They were ever ready to squan- 
der blood and treasure, to violate treaties, to 
form open or secret coalitions, in resisting these 
nsw ideas. Regarding Napoleon as the great 
champion of popular rights, and conscious that 
there was no one of his marshals who, upon 
Kapoleon's downfall, could take ^his place, all 
their energies were directed against him per- 
sonally. 

Thus we have the singular spectacle, never 
before witnessed in the history of the world, 
never again to be witnessed, of the combined 
monarchs of more than a hundred millions of 
men waging warfare against one single man. 
And therefore Napoleon called upon all the re- 
generated nations in sympathy with his views 
to rally around him. He regarded them as 
wings of the great army of which France was 
the centre. In combating the coalition, he was 
fighting battles for them all. They stood or 



252 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Joseph's Want of Appreciation. 



fell together. In the terrific struggle which 
deluged all Europe in blood, Napoleon was the 
commander-in-chief of the whole army of re- 
form. He was such by the power of circum- 
stances. He was such by innate ability. He 
was such by universal recognition. 

When therefore Napoleon regarded the sove- 
reigns appointed over the nations whom his 
genius had rescued from despotism but as the 
generals of his armies, who were to co-operate 
at his bidding in defense of the general system 
of dynastic oppression, it was not arrogance, 
it was wisdom and necessity that inspired his 
conduct. Louis in Holland, Jerome in West- 
phalia, Eugene in Italy, Murat in Naples, Jo- 
seph in Spain, all were bound, under the lead- 
ership of Napoleon, to contribute their portion 
to the general defense. 

Yery strangely, Joseph seemed never to be 
able fully to comprehend this idea. He was a 
man of great intelligence, of high culture, and 
a more kindly, generous heart never throbbed 
in a human bosom ; and yet, notwithstanding 
all Napoleon's arguments, it seemed impossible 
for him to comprehend why he should not be 
as independent as the King of Spain, as Napo- 
leon was in the sovereignty of France. Fully 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 253 

Character of Joseph. 

recognizing the immeasurable superiority of his 
brother to any other man, and loving him with 
a devotion which has seldom if ever been ex- 
ceeded, he was still disposed to regard himself 
as placed in Spain only to promote the happi- 
ness of the Spanish people, without regard to 
the interests of the general cause. Instead of 
being ready to contribute of men and money 
from Spain to maintain the conflict against 
coalesced Europe, he was continually writing 
to his brother to send him money to carry on 
his own Government, and to excuse him from 
making any exactions from the people. He 
was exceedingly reluctant to deal with severity, 
or to quell the outrages of brigands with the 
necessary punishment. His letters to the Em- 
peror are often filled with complaints. He de- 
plores the sad destiny which has made him a 
king. He longs to return, with his wife and 
children, to the quiet retreat of Mortfontaine. 

Kapoleon dealt tenderly with his brother. 
He fully understood his virtues ; he fully com- 
prehended his defects. Occasionally an ex- 
pression of impatience escaped his pen, though 
frequently he made no allusion, in his reply, 
to Joseph's repinings. 

The Duke of Wellington is reported to have 



254 Joseph Bonapakte. [1809. 

Kemarks of the Duke of "Wellington. 

said that "a man of refined Christian sensi- 
bihties has no right to enter into the profes- 
sion of a soldier." A successful warrior must 
often perform deeds at which humanity shud- 
ders. Joseph was, by the confession of all, one 
of the most calm and brave of men npon the 
field of battle. Still, he was too modest a man, 
and had too little confidence in himself to per- 
form those hazardous and heroic deeds of arms 
which war often requires. ISTapoleon, conscious 
that his brother was not by nature a warrior, and 
also wishing to save him from the unpopularity 
of military acts in crushing sedition, left him 
as much as possible to the administration of 
civil affairs in Madrid, His statesmanship and 
amiability of character could here have full 
scope. 

To his war-scarred veterans, Junot, Soult, 
Jourdan, Suchet, the Emperor mainly intrust- 
ed the military expeditions. Still, to save Jo- 
seph from a sense of humiliation, the Emperor 
acted as far as possible through his brother, in 
giving commands to the army. But the mar- 
shals, obedient as children to the commands of 
Napoleon, whose superior genius not one of 
them ever thought of calling in question, often 
manifested reluctance in executing operations 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 255 

Siege of Oporto. 

directed by Joseph. At times they could not 
conceal from him that they considered their 
knowledge of the art of war superior to his. 
Joseph was king of Spain, and was often humil- 
iated by the impression forced upon him that 
he was something like a tool in the hands of 
others. 

During the year 1809 Joseph remained 
most of the time in Madrid. There were in- 
numerable conflicts during the year, from petty 
skirmishes to pretty severe battles, none of 
which are worthy of record in this brief sketch. 

The latter part of April the Duke of Wel- 
lington landed in Portugal, with English re-en- 
forcements of thirty thousand men. With 
these, aided by such forces as he could raise 
in Portugal and rally around him in Spain, he 
was to advance against the French. Napoleon 
had been compelled to withdraw all of the Im- 
perial Guard, and all of his choicest troops, to 
meet the war on the plains of Germany. Mar- 
shal Soult was on the march for Oporto. 
With about twenty thousand troops he laid 
siege to the city. The feebleness of the de- 
fense of the Portuguese may be inferred from 
the fact that the city was protected by two 
hundred pieces of cannon, and by a force of 



256 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Awful Slaughter. 



regular troops and armed peasants, amounting 
to about seventy thousand men. Soult, hav- 
ing made all his preparations for the assault, 
and confident that the city could not resist his 
attack, wrote a very earnest letter to the 
magistrates, urging that by capitulation they 
should save the city from the horrors of being 
carried by storm. ISTo reply was returned to 
the summons except a continued fire. 

The attack was made. The Portuguese 
peasants had tortured, mangled, killed all the 
French prisoners that had fallen into their 
hands. Both parties were in a state of ex- 
treme exasperation. The battle was short. 
When the French troops burst through the 
barriers, a general panic seized the Portuguese 
troops, and they rushed in wild confusion 
through the streets toward the Douro. The 
French cavalry pursued the terrified fugitives, 
and, with keen sabres, hewed them down till 
their arms were weary with the slaughter. 

A bridge crossed the river. Crowded with 
the frenzied multitude, it sank under their 
weight, and the stream was black with the 
bodies of drowning men. Those in the rear, 
by thousands, pressed those before them into 
the yawning gulf. Boats pushed out from the 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 257 

Oporto Taken by Storm. 

banks to rescue them, but the light artillery 
of the French was already upon the water's 
edge, discharging volleys of grape upon the 
helpless, compact mass. Before the city sur- 
rendered, four thousand of these unhappy vic- 
tims of war, torn with shot, and suffocated by 
the waves, were swept down the stream. 
Though the marshal exerted himself to the 
utmost to preserve discipline, no mortal man 
could restrain the passions of an army in such 
an hour. The wretched city experienced all 
the horrors of a town taken by storm. The 
number of the slain, according to the report of 
Marshal Soult, was more than eighteen thou- 
sand, not including those who were engulfed in 
the Douro. Multitudes of the wounded fled to 
the woods, where they perished miserably of 
exposure and starvation. But two hundred 
and fifty prisoners were taken. The French 
took two hundred thousand pounds of powder, 
a vast amount of stores, and tents for the ac- 
commodation of fifty thousand men. They 
captured also in the port thirty English vessels 
loaded with wine. The loss of the French in 
capturing Oporto, according to the report of 
the general-in-chief, was but eighty killed, and 
three hundred and fifty wounded. 

17 



258 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Continued Scenes of Carnage. 



It is heart-sickening to proceed with the 
recital of these horrors. Similar scenes took 
place in Tarancon, where General Victor de- 
stroyed the remains of the regular Spanish 
army with terrible slaughter. A band of 
about twelve thousand men were cut to pieces 
by Greneral Sebastiani. Again the Spaniards 
met with a fearful repulse upon the plains of 
Estremadura. The Spanish general, Cuesta, 
with twenty thousand infantry and four thou- 
sand horse, was attacked by General Victor 
with fifteen thousand foot and three thousand 
horse. As usual, the French cut to pieces 
their despised foes, capturing all their artillery, 
inflicting upon them a loss in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, of ten thousand men, while the 
French lost but about one thousand. 

While these scenes were transpiring, Joseph, 
at Madrid, not only occupied himself with the 
general direction of the war, so far as the in- 
structions which he perpetually received from 
Paris enabled him to do, but labored incessant- 
ly, as he had done in Naples, in promoting all 
needful reforms, and in forming and executing 
plans for the happiness of his subjects. He 
caused a constitution, which had been formed 
at Bayonne, to be published and widely circu- 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 259 



Napoleon's Remarks to O'Meara. 



lated, that tlie Spaniards might be convinced 
that it was his desire to reign over them as a 
father rather than as a sovereign. 

Kapoleon, speaking of his brother Joseph to 
Dr. O'Meara at Saint Helena, said: 

" Joseph is a very excellent man. His vir- 
tues and his talents are appropriate to private 
life. Nature destined him for that. He is too 
amiable to be a great man. He has no ambi- 
tion. He resembles me in person, but he i^ 
much better than I. He is extremely well 
educated." 

" I have always observed," O'Meara re- 
marks, " that he spoke of his brother Joseph 
with the most ardent affection." 

The fickleness of the multitude was very 
conspicuous during all these stormy scenes. 
Joseph made a short visit to the southern 
provinces. Everywhere he was received with 
the greatest enthusiasm, the people crowding 
around him, and greeting him with shouts of 
"F^ve le BoV Deputations from the cities 
and villages hastened to meet him with protes- 
tations of homage and fidelity. Joseph re- 
sponded, in those convincing accents which the 
honesty of his heart inspired, that he wished 
to forget all the past, to maintain the salutary 



260 Jo.SEPH Bonaparte. [1809. 



Joseph at Malaga. 



institutions of religion, and to confer upon 
Spain that constitutional liberty which would 
secure its prosperity. Joseph and the friends 
who accompanied him were so much impress- 
ed with the apparent cordiality of their greet- 
ing that they were sanguine in the hope that 
the nation would rally around the new dynas- 
ty. On the 4th of March the King entered 
Malaga. The enthusiasm of his reception 
could scarcely have been exeeeded. The 
streets through which he passed were strewn 
with flowers, and the windows filled with the 
smiling faces of ladies. He remained there for 
eight days, receiving every token of regard 
which affection and confidence could confer. 

But in other parts of the country where Jo- 
seph was not present it seemed as if the whole 
population, without a dissenting voice, was ris- 
ing against him. His embarrassments became 
extreme. He not only had no wish to impose 
himself upon a reluctant people, but no earth- 
ly consideration could induce him to do so. It 
was his sincere and earnest desire to lift up 
Spain from its degradation, and make it great 
and prosperous. The emissaries of Great 
Britain were everywhere busy recruiting the 
Spanish armies, lavishing gold in payment. 




JOSEPH ENTERING MALAGA. 



1809.] The Spanish Campaign. 268 

Embarrassments of Joseph's Position. 

supplying the troops abundantly with clothing 
and all the munitions of war, and giving them 
English officers. Guerrilla bands were organ- 
ized, with the privilege of plundering and de- 
stroying all who were in favor of the new re- 
gime. The friends of the new regime dared 
not openly avow their attachment to the gov- 
ernment of Joseph, unless protected by French 
troops. It was thus extremely difficult to as- 
certain the real wishes of the nation. 

The Duke of Wellington was upon the fron- 
tiers, with an army of seventy thousand Eng- 
lish and Portuguese. If Joseph remained in 
Spain, it was clear that he had a long and 
bloody struggle before him. If he threw 
down the crown and abandoned the enterprise, 
it was surrendering Spain to England, to be 
forced inevitably into the coalition against 
France. Thus the existence of the new re- 
gime in France seemed to depend upon the 
result of the struggle in Spain. Joseph could 
not abandon the enterprise without being ap- 
parently false to his brother, to his own coun- 
try, and to the principle of equal rights for all 
throughout Europe. 



264 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Wellington in Spain. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The War in Spain Continued. 

N July of 1809 Joseph was in Madrid, with 
an army of about forty thousand men. 
The rest of the French army was widely dis- 
persed. The Duke of Wellington thought this 
a favorable opportunity to make a rapid march 
and seize the Spanish capital. Collecting a 
force of eighty-five thousand troops, he pressed 
rapidly forward to Talavera, within two days' 
march of Madrid. Joseph, being informed of 
the approach of this formidable allied army, 
and that they were expecting still very con- 
siderable re-enforcements, resolved to advance 
and attack them before those new troops 
should arrive. By great exertions he collect- 
ed about forty-five thousand veterans, and on 
the 27th of July found himself facing his vast- 
ly-outnumbering foes, very formidably posted 
among the groves and hills of Talavera. For 
two days the battle raged. It was fearfully 
destructive. The allied army lost between six 



1809.] The War Continued. 265 

Battle of Talavera. Retreat of Wellington. 

and seven thousand men. The French be- 
tween eight and nine thousand. The tall grass 
took fire, and, sweeping along like a prairie 
conflagration, fearfully burned many of the 
wounded. The Spaniards and- Portuguese 
were easily dispersed. They seemed to care 
but little for the conflict, regarding themselves 
as the paid soldiers of England, fighting the bat- 
tles of England. But the British troops fought 
with the determination and bravery which has 
ever characterized the men of that race. 

At the close of the second day's fight the 
French troops drew off in good order, and en- 
camped about three miles in the rear. Though 
unable to disperse the army of Wellington, 
Joseph had accomplished his purpose in so 
crippling the enemy as to arrest his farther 
advance, and thus to save Madrid. Joseph 
waited in his encampment for the arrival of 
Soult, Ney, and Mortier, who were hastening 
to his aid. Wellington, finding that he could 
place but very little reliance upon his Portu- 
guese and Spanish allies, decided to retreat, 
abandoning his wounded to the protection of 
some Spanish troops whom he left as a rear- 
guard, who in turn abandoned the sufferers 
entirely and returned to Portugal. 



266 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 



Complaints of the English, 



The British complained bitterly of the luke- 
warmness and even treachery of their Spanish 
allies. Alison gives utterance to these com- 
plaints in saying : 

" From the moment the English troops en- 
tered. Spain, they had experienced the wide 
difference between the promises and the per- 
formance of the Spanish authorities. We have 
the authority of Wellington for the assertion 
that if the Junta of Truxillo had kept their 
contract for furnishing two hundred and forty 
thousand rations, the Allies would, on the night 
of the 27th of July, have slept in Madrid. 
But for the month which followed the bat- 
tle of Talavera their distresses in this respect 
had indeed been excessive, and had reached 
a height which was altogether insupportable. 
Notwithstanding the most energetic remon- 
strances from Wellington, he had got hardly 
any supplies from the Spanish generals or au- 
thorities from the time of his entering Spain. 
Cuesia had refused to lend him ninety mules 
to draw his artillery, though at the time he had 
several hundred in his army doing nothing. 
The troops of all arms were literally starving. 
During the month which followed the junction 
of the iwo armies, on the 22d of July, they 



1809.] The War Continued. 267 

Kemarks of Alison, 



had not received ten days' bread. On many 
days they got only a little meat without salt, 
on others nothing at all. The cavalry and ar- 
tillery horses had not received, in the same 
time, three deliveries of forage, and in conse- 
quence a thousand had died, and seven hun- 
dred were on the sick list. 

"These privations were the more exasper- 
ating that, during the greater part of the time, 
the Spanish troops received their rations regu- 
larly, both for men and horses. The composi- 
tion of the Spanish troops, and their conduct at 
Talavera and upon other occasions, was not 
such as to inspire the least confidence in their 
capability of resisting the attack of the French 
armies. The men, badly disciplined and with- 
out uniform, dispersed the moment they expe- 
rienced any reverse, and permitted the whole 
weight of the contest to fall on the English 
soldiers, who had no similar means of escape. 
These causes had gradually produced an es- 
trangement, and at length a positive animosity 
between the privates and officers of the two ar- 
mies. An angry correspondence took place be- 
tween their respective generals, which widened 
the breach." 

A few skirmishes ensued between the con- 



268 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 

Battle of the 3d of November. Triumph of Joseph. 

tending parties until tbe 8d of Xovember, when 
Joseph, with thirty thousand men, encounter- 
ed fifty-five thousand Spaniards. The odds 
in favor of the Spaniards was so great that 
they rushed vigorously upon the French. A 
battle of four hours ensued. The Spanish army 
was broken to pieces, dispersed, trampled under 
foot. Twenty thousand prisoners, fifty-five 
pieces of cannon, and the whole ammunition 
of the army were captured by the French. 

" Wearied with collecting prisoners," says 
Alison, " the French at length merely took the 
arms from the fugitives, desiring them to go 
home, telling them that war was a trade which 
they were not fit for." 

From this conflict Joseph returned in tri- 
umph to his capital. It seemed for a time that 
no more resistance could be offered, and that 
his government was firmly established. Wel- 
lington was driven back into Portugal, and 
loudly proclaimed that he could place no reli- 
ance upon the promises or the arms of the 
Spaniards or the Portuguese. 

Napoleon had returned from the triumph- 
ant campaign of Wagram. Again he had shat- 
tered the coalition in the north, and was upon 
the pinnacle of his greatness. The total failure 



1809.] The War Continued. 269 

Failure of Wellington. 

of Wellington's campaign had greatly disap- 
pointed the British people. The Common 
Council of London petitioned Parliament for 
an inquiry into the circumstances connected 
with this failure. 

" Admitting the valor of Lord Wellington," 
they said in their address, " the petitioners can 
see no reason why any recompense should be 
bestowed on him for his military conduct. 
After a useless display of British valor, and a 
frightful carnage, that army, like the preceding 
one, was compelled to seek safety in a precip- 
itous flight before an enemy who we were told 
had been conquered, abandoning many thou- 
sands of our wounded countrymen into the 
hands of the French. That calamity, like the 
others, has passed without any inquiry, and, as 
if their long-experienced impunity had put the 
servants of the Crown above the reach of jus- 
tice, ministers have actually gone the length of 
advising your majesty to confer honorable dis- 
tinctions on a general who has thus exhibited, 
with equal rashness and ostentation, nothing 
but a useless valor." 

Still, after an angry debate, in which there 
was very strong opposition presented against 
carrying on the war in Spain, it was finally 



270 Joseph Bonaparte. [1809. 

Persistent Hostility of the British Government. 

decided to prosecute hostilities against Napole- 
on in the Peninsula with renewed vigor. The 
advocates of the measure urged that there was 
no other point in Europe where they could 
gain a foothold to attack Napoleon, and that 
by protracting the war there, and drawing 
down the French armies, they might afford an 
opportunity for the JSTorfchern powers again to 
rise in a coalition against the new regime. 
These views were very strenuously urged in the 
.House of Lords by Lord Wellesley, Lord Cas- 
tlereagh, and Lord Liverpool. The vote stood 
sixty-five for the war, thirty-three against it. 
It was resolved to concentrate the whole force 
of England for a new campaign in the Penin- 
sula. One hundred millions of dollars were 
voted to the navy, one hundred and five mil- 
lions to the army, and twenty-five millions for 
the ordnance. The British navy engaged in the 
enterprise consisted of a thousand and nineteen 
vessels of war. In addition to these forces, the 
English were to raise all the troops they could 
from Spain and Portugal, offering them the most 
liberal pay, and encouraging them to all those 
acts of guerrilla warfare for which they were 
remarkably adapted, and which might prove 
most annoying to the French communications. 



1811.] The Wae Coxtixued. 271 

The Conflict renewed. Causes of the Strife. 

ISTapoleoD, to meet the emergency, had in 
the Peninsula an army of two hundred and 
eighty thousand men ready for service. Slow- 
ly the months of the year 1810 rolled away over 
that wretched land. There were battles on 
the plains and among the hills, sieges, bom- 
bardments, conflicts hand to hand in the blood- 
stained streets, outrages innumerable, pesti- 
lence, famine, conflagration, misery, death. The 
causes of the conflict were clearly defined and 
distinctly understood by the leading men on 
each side. Never was there a more moment- 
ous question to be decided by the fate of ar- 
mies. England was fighting to perpetuate in 
England and on the Continent the old regime 
of aristocratic ^^fivilege. France was fighting to 
defend and maintain in France and among the 
other regenerated nations of Europe, the new 
regime of equal rights for all men. The intelli- 
gent community everywhere distinctly compre- 
hended the nature of the conflict, and chose 
their sides. The unintelligent masses, often 
blinded by ignorance, deluded by fanaticism, 
or controlled by power, were bewildered, and 
swayed to and fro, as controlled by circum- 
stances. 

The year 1811 opened sadly upon this war- 



272 



Joseph Bonaparte. [1811. 



Conscientiousness of the Antagonists. 



deluged land. It would only lacerate the heart 
of the reader to give an honest recital of the 
miseries which were endured. No one can 
read with pleasure the account of these scenes 
of blood, misery, and death. Equal bravery 
and equal determination were displayed by the 
French and by the English, and, alas for man, 
there was probably much conscientiousness 
on both sides. There were religious men in 
each army, men who went from their knees in 
prayer into the battle. There were men who 
honestly believed that the interests of humani- 
ty required that the government of the nations ' 
should be in the hands of the rich and the no- 
ble. There were others who as truly believed 
that the old feudal system was a curse to the 
nations, and that a new era of reform was de- 
manded, at whatever expense of treasure and 
blood. And thus these children of a common 
father, during the twelve long months of anoth- 
er year, contended with each other in the death- 
struggle upon more battle-fields than history 
can record. 

Joseph, in view of this slaughter and this 
misery, was at times extremely wretched. He 
knew not what to do. Nothing can exceed the 
sadness of some of his letters to his brother. 



181L] The War Continued. 273 

Painful Position of Joseph. 

To abandon the conflict seemed like cowardice, 
and might prove the destruction of the popu- 
lar cause all over Europe. To persevere was 
to perpetuate blood and misery. Seldom has 
any man been placed in a position of greater 
difficulty, but the integrity, the conscientious- 
ness, and the humanity of the man were mani- 
fest in every word he uttered, in every deed he 
performed. 

"My first duties," said Joseph, "are for 
Spain. I love France as my family, Spain as 
my religion. I am attached to the one by the 
affections of my heart, and to the other by my 
conscience." 

Napoleon, wearied with these incessant wars, 
which were draining the treasure and the 
blood of France, thought that if he could con- 
nect himself by marriage with one of the an- 
cient dynasties, he could thus bring himself 
into the acknowledged family of kings, and se- 
cure such an alliance as would prevent these 
incessant coalitions of all dynastic Europe 
against France. In March, 1810, the Emperor, 
having committed the greatest mistake of his 
life in the divorce of Josephine — a sin against 
God's law, though with 'him, at the time, a sin 
of ignorance and of good intentions— a mistake 

18 



272 Joseph Bonaparte. [1811. 

Conscientiousness of the Antagonists. 



deluged land. It would only lacerate the heart 
of the reader to give an honest recital of the 
miseries which were endured. Ko one can 
read with pleasure the account of these scenes 
of blood, misery, and death. Equal bravery 
and equal determination were displayed by the 
French and by the English, and, alas for man, 
there was probably much conscientiousness 
on both sides. There were religious men in 
each army, men who went from their knees in 
prayer into the battle. There were men who 
honestly believed that the interests of humani- 
ty required that the government of the nations 
should be in the hands of the rich and the no- 
ble. There were others who as truly believed 
that the old feudal system was a curse to the 
nations, and that a new era of reform was de- 
manded, at whatever expense of treasure and 
blood. And thus these children of a common 
father, during the twelve long months of anoth- 
er year, contended with each other in the death- 
struggle upon more battle-fields than history 
can record. 

Joseph, in view of this slaughter and this 
misery, was at times extremely wretched. He 
knew not what to do. Nothing can exceed the 
sadness of some of his letters to his brother. 



1811.] The War Continued. 273 

Painful Position of Joseph. 

To abandon the conflict seemed like cowardice, 
and might prove the destruction of the popu- 
lar cause all over Europe. To persevere was 
to perpetuate blood and misery. Seldom has 
any man been placed in a position of greater 
difficulty, but the integrity, the conscientious- 
ness, and the humanity of the man were mani- 
fest in every word he uttered, in every deed he 
performed. 

"My first duties," said Joseph, "are for 
Spain. I love France as my family, Spain as 
my religion. I am attached to the one by the 
affections of my heart, and to the other by my 
conscience." 

Napoleon, wearied with these incessant wars, * 
which were draining the treasure and the 
blood of France, thought that if he could con- 
nect himself by marriage with one of the an- 
cient dynasties, he could thus bring himself 
into the acknowledged family of kings, and se- 
cure such an alliance as would prevent these 
incessant coalitions of all dynastic Europe 
against France. In March, 1810, the Emperor, 
having committed the greatest mistake of his 
life in the divorce of Josephine — a sin against 
God's law, though with 'him, at the time, a sin 
of ignorance and of good intentions — a mistake 

18 



274* Joseph Bonaparte. [1811. 

Birth of tha King of Rome. 

which he afterward bitterly deplored as the ul- 
timate cause of his ruin — married Maria Louisa, 
the daughter of the Emperor of Austria. This 
union seemed to unite Austria with France in 
a permanent alliance, and for a time gave 
promise of securing the great blessing which 
Kapoleon hoped to attain by it. On the 20th 
of March, 1811, Napoleon wrote to Joseph : 

" Monsieur mon Frere, — I hasten to an- 
nounce to your Majesty that the Empress, my 
dear wife, has just been safely delivered of a 
prince, who at his birth received the title of 
the King of Eome. Your Majesty's constant 
affection towards me convinces me that you 
* will share in the satisfaction which I feel at 
an event of such importance to my family and 
to the welfare of my subjects. 

" This conviction is very agreeable to me. 
Your Majesty is aware of my attachment, and 
can not doubt the pleasure with which I seize 
this opportunity of repeating the assurance of 
the sincere esteem and tender friendship with 
which I am," etc. 

On the same day, a few hours later, he 
wrote again to his brother giving a minute ac- 
count of the accouchement, which was very 
severe. He closed this letter by saying : 



1811.] The War Continued. 275 

Despatch from Napoleon. 

" The babe is perfectly well. The Empress 
is as comfortable as could be expected. This 
evening, at eight o'clock, the infant will be 
privately baptized. As I do not intend the 
public christening to take place for the next 
six weeks, I shall intrust General Defrance, 
my equerry, who will be the bearer of this 
letter, with, another in which I shall ask you 
to stand godfather to your nephew." 

In May, Joseph, accompanied by a small 
retinue, visited Paris, to have a personal confer- 
ence with his brother upon the affairs of Spain. 
He was mucb dissatisfied that the French mar- 
shals there were so independent of him in the 
conduct of their military operations. The re- 
sult of the conversations which he held with 
his brother was, that he returned to Spain ap- 
parently satisfied. He entered Madrid on the 
15th of July, in the midst of an immense con- 
course of people. The principal inhabitants 
of the city, in a long train of carriages, came 
out to meet him, a triumphal arch was con- 
structed across the road, and joy seemed to 
beam from every countenance. He immedi- 
ately consecrated himself with new ardor to 
the administration of the internal affairs of his 
realm. 



276 Joseph Bonaparte. [1811. 



The Emperor's Address. 



There was very strong opposition manifested 
by the people of England against the Spanish 
war. There were many indications that the 
British Government might be forced, by the 
voice of the people, to relinquish the conflict. 
Animated by these hopes, Joseph announced 
his intention of calling a Spanish congress, in 
which the people should be fully represented, 
to confer upon the national interests. Wel- 
lington was thoroughly disheartened. His dis- 
patches were full of bitter complaints against 
the incapacity of the British Government. Na- 
poleon, in his address to the legislative body 
on the 18th of June, 1811, in the following 
terms alluded to the war in Spain : 

"Since 1809 the greater part of the strong- 
places in Spain have been taken, after memo- 
rable sieges, and the insurgents have been beat- 
en in a great number of pitched battles. Eng- 
land has felt that the war is approaching a 
termination, and that intrigues and gold are 
no longer sufficient to nourish it. She has 
found herself, therefore, obliged to alter the 
nature of her assistance, and from an auxiliary 
she has become a principal. All her troops of 
the line have been sent to the Peninsula. 

"English blood has, at length, flowed in 



1811.] The War Continved. 277 

Grandeur of Napoleon. 

torrents in several actions glorious to the 
French arms. This conflict with Carthage, 
which seemed as if it would' be decided on 
fields of battle on the ocean or beyond the 
seas, will henceforth be decided on the plains 
of Spain. When England shall be exhausted, 
when she shall at last have' felt the evils which 
for twenty years she has with so much cruelty 
poured upon the Continent, when half her 
families shall be in mourning, then shall a peal 
of thunder put an end to the affairs of the 
Peninsula, the destinies of her armi.es, and 
avenge. Europe and Asia by finishing this sec- 
ond Punic War."' 

At the close of the year 1811 Napoleon 
stood upon the highest pinnacle of his power. 
Coalition after coalition had been shattered by 
his armies, and now he had not an avowed foe 
upon the Continent. The Emperor of Russia 
was allied to him by the ties of friendship ; the 
Emperor of Austria by the ties of relationship. 
Other hostile nations had been too thoroughly 
vanquished to attempt to arise against him, or, 
by political regeneration, had been brought 
into sympathy with the new regime in France. 

The English, aided by their resistless fleet, 

* Moniteur, Jan. 11, 1811. 



278 Jo^SEPH Bonaparte. [1811. 



The Constitution of 1812. 



still held important positions in Portugal. 
They however had no foothold in Spain ex- 
cepting at Cadiz, situated upon the island of 
Leon, upon the extreme southern point of the 
Peninsula. The usual population of the city 
of Cadiz was one hundred and fifty thousand. 
But this number had been increased by a 
hundred thousand strangers, who had thrown 
themselves into the place. About fifty thou- 
sand troops under Marmont were besieging the 
city. The garrison defending Cadiz consisted 
of about twenty thousand men, five thousand 
of whom were English soldiers. The British 
fleet was also in its harbor, with encouragement 
and supplies. Here and there predatory bands 
occasionally appeared, but this was nearly all 
the serious opposition which was then present- 
ed to the reign of Joseph. The French lines 
encompassing the city were thirty miles in 
length, extending from sea to sSa. 

To the great chagrin of England, the Span- 
ish leaders in Cadiz convened a Congress, which 
formed a constitution, called the Constitution 
of 1812, far more radically democratic than 
even Napoleon could advocate for Spain. 
Wellington was exceedingly vexed, and com- 
plained bitterly of this conduct on the part of 



1812.] The War Continued. 279 

Lettei' from Joseph to Napoleon. 

the men whose battle he assumed to be fight- 
ing. "The British Government were well 
aware," says Alison, " while democratic frenzy 
was thus reigning triumphant at Cadiz, from 
the dispatches of their ambassador there, the 
Honorable H. Wellesley, as well as from Wel- 
lington's information of the dangerous nature 
of the spirit which had been thus evolved, 
that they had a task of no ordinary difficulty 
to encounter in any attempt to moderate its 
transports.'" 

Joseph grew more and more disheartened. 
All his plans for the pacification of the country 
were baflfled. On the 23d of March, 1812, he 
wrote to his brother from Madrid as follows : 

" Sire, — When a year ago I sought the ad- 
vice of your Majesty before coming back to 
Spain, you urged me to return. It is there- 
fore that I am here. You had the kindness to 
say to me that I should always have the privi- 
lege of leaving the country if the hopes we 
had conceived should not be realized. In that 
case your Majesty assured me of an asylum in 
the south of the Empire, between which and 
Mortfontaine I could divide my residence. 

"Events have disappointed my hopes. I 

' Alison, vol. iii. p. 407. 



280 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

Spanish Antipathy to tlie Duke of Wellington. 

have done no good, and I have no longer any 
hopes of doing any. I entreat, then, yoar 
Majesty to permit me to resign to his hands 
the crown of Spain, which he condescended to 
transmit to me four years ago. In accepting 
the crown of this country, I never had any 
other object in view than the happiness of this 
vast monarchy. It has not been in my power 
to accomplish it. I pray your Majesty to re- 
ceive me as one of his subjects, and to be- 
lieve that he will never have a more faithful 
servant than the friend whom nature has given 
him." 

The resignation was not then accepted, and 
circumstances soon became such that Joseph 
felt that he could not with honor withdraw 
from the post he occupied. 

The Spaniards looked with great distrust 
upon the Duke of Wellington, who was the em- 
bodiment of the principles of aristocracy, . the 
more to be feared in consequence of his inflexi- 
ble will. The English deemed the re-enthrone- 
ment of Ferdinand YII. and his despotic sway 
essential to the success of their cause. The 
uncrowned King and his brother Don Carlos 
were living very sumptuously and contentedly, 
chasing foxes and hares at Valen9ay, and cut- 



1812.] The Wae Continued. 281 

Embarrassments of the British Government. 

ting down the park to build bonfires in cele- 
bration of Napoleon's victories. 

The British Government, alarmed in view 
of the democratic spirit unexpectedly developed 
by a portion of the Spanish allies, sent a secret 
agent. Baron Eolli, a man of great sagacity, 
address, and intrepidity, to persuade Ferdinand 
to violate his pledge of honor, to escape from 
Valengay, and place himself at the head of the 
Spaniards who were in opposition to Joseph. 
It was hoped that this would awaken new en- 
thusiasm on the part of the Church and the ad- 
vocates of the old regime, and that it would 
check the spirit of ultra democracy which was 
threatening to sweep every thing before it. 

The nearest approach to an honorable deed 
to which Ferdinand ever came, was in the 
very questionable act of revealing the plot to 
the French Government. Eolli was arrested 
and sent to' Yincennes. The democratic lead- 
ers in Cadiz were so incensed against what 
Alison calls " the orderly spirit of aristocratic 
rule in England," that, burying their animosity 
against the French invasion, they almost wel- 
comed those foreign armies, who bore every- 
where upon their banners "Equal Eights for 
all Men." They opened secret negotiations 



282 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

The Campaign to Moscow. 

with Joseph, offering to surrender Cadiz to the 
French troops, and to secure the entire sub- 
mission of the whole peninsula to the govern- 
ment of Joseph if he would accept the radi- 
cal Constitution of 1812 in place . of the more 
moderate Eepublicanism of the Constitution of 
Bayonne. The hostility of the Spanish gen- 
erals and soldiers to Wellington and the Eng- 
lish tro6ps was bitter and undisguised.^ 

But more bloody scenes soon ensued. Na- 
poleon, deeming the war in Spain virtually end- 
ed, had been induced to withdraw large num- 
bers of his troops, and to embark in his fatal 
campaign to Moscow. Thus Eussia became al- 
lied to England, and a new opportunity, under 
more favorable auspices, was afforded to renew 
the war in Spain. England concentrated her 
mightiest energies upon the Peninsula against 
the remnants of the French army which Napo- 
leon had left there. The Emperor, with all his 
chosen troops, composing an army of over five 
hundred thousand men, was on the march thou- 
sands of miles toward the north. On the 9th 
of May, 1812, the Emperor left Paris, to place 
himself at the head of his troops in Dresden. 
The war in Spain was now urged by the Brit- 
Napier, V, 406, 407. 



1812.] The War Continued. 283 

Miseries of the Conflict. 

ish Government with renovated fury. The 
mind is wearied and the heart is sickened, in 
reading the recital of sieges, and battles, and 
outrages which make a humane man to exclaim, 
in anguish of spirit, " O Lord, how long I how 
long!" Equal ferocity was upon both sides. 
French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese sol- 
diers, maddened by passion and inflamed with 
intoxicating drinks, perpetrated deeds which 
fiends could scarcely exceed. Tortosa, Tarra- 
gona, Mauresa, Saguntum, Valencia, Badajoz, 
Ciudad Eodrigo,' and a score of other places, 
testified to the braver}^, often the tiger-like 
ferocity, of the contending parties, and to the 
misery which man can inflict upon his brother- 
man. 

Physical bravery is the cheapest and most 
vulgar of all earthly virtues. The vilest rab- 
ble gathered from the gutters of any city can, 
by a few months of military discipline and ex- 
perience in the horrors of war, become so reck- 
less of danger that bullets, shells, and grape- 
shot are as little regarded as snowflakes. Eob- 
ber bands and piratic hordes will often fight 
with ferocity and desperation which can not 
be surpassed. It is the cause alone which can 
ennoble the heroism of the battle-field. In 



284 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 



Destitution of the Army. 



these terrific conflicts, especially wben the 
Frencli and the British troops were brought 
into contact, there often were exhibited all the 
energy and desperation of which human nature 
is capable. 

As the Emperor set out on the Eussian 
campaign, he invested Joseph with the com- 
mand of the armies in Spain. These troops 
were widely dispersed, to protect different points 
in tbe kingdom. But few could be promptly 
rallied upon any one field of battle. The Em- 
peror, burdened with the expense of his im- 
mense army, and far away amidst the wilds of 
Eussia, could give but little attention to the af- 
fairs of Spain, and could send neither money 
nor supplies to his brother, who was so uneasi- 
ly settled upon an impoverished throne. As 
days of darkness gathered around the Emperor, 
a sense of honor prevented Joseph from aban- 
doning his post. His troops were everywhere 
in a state of great destitution and suffering. 
His humane heart would not allow him to wrest 
supplies from the people, who were often in a 
still greater state of poverty and want. 

Marshal Massena had entered Portugal with 
an army of seventy-five thousand men. Ee- 
duced by sickness and destitution, he was com- 



1812.] The War Continued. 287 

Ciudad Rodrigo. 

pelled to withdraw with but thirtj-five thou- 
sand men. Thus the English army, no longer 
held in check, occupied Ciudad Eodrigo and 
Badajoz.^ 

Three thousand men were left in garrison 
at Ciudad Eodrigo. Forty thousand men un- 
der Wellington besieged it. After opening 
two practicable breaches, Wellington summon- 
ed a surrender. The French general, Barrie, 
replied : 

" His Majesty, the Emperor, has intrusted 
me with the command of Ciudad Eodrigo. I 
and my garrison are resolved to bury ourselves 
beneath the ruins." 

The place was taken by assault, the Biitish 
troops rushing into the breaches with courage 
which could not have been surpassed. The 
French, after losing half their number, were 
overpowered. The victorious British soldiers, 
forgetting that the inhabitants of the city were 
their allies, pillaged the houses and the shops, 
and committed every conceivable outrage upon 
the inhabitants. Sir Archibald Alison thus de- 
scribes the scene : ^ 

''The churches were ransacked, the wine 
and spirit cellars pillaged, and brutal intoxica- 

■* Encyclopaedia Americana, article Joseph Bonaparte. 



288 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 



Badajoz. 



tion spread in every direction. Soon flames 
were seen bursting in several quarters. Some 
houses were burned to the ground, others al- 
ready ignited. By degrees, however, the drunk- 
en men dropped down from excess of liquor, 
or fell asleep ; and before morning a degree 
of order was restored." 

Advancing from Ciudad Rodrigo, Welling- 
ton, at the head of a force then numbering six- 
ty thousand men, laid siege to Badajoz, cross- 
ing the Guadiarra above and below the city. 
The garrison in the city consisted of but forty- 
five hundred combatants. The trenches were 
opened upon the night between the 17th and 
18th of March. There was no more desperate 
fighting during all the war^ of Napoleon than 
was witnessed within and around the walls of 
Badajoz. The British lost five thousand oflQ.- 
cers and men ere the city was captured. Again 
had the Spaniards bitter cause to mourn over 
the victory of those who called themselves their 
allies. As the British troops rushed into the 
streets of this Spanish city which they had 
professedly come* to rescue from the govern- 
ment of Joseph Bonaparte, Alison says: 

" Disorders and excesses of every sort pre- 
vailed, and the British soldiery showed, by 



1812.] The War Continued. 289 

Famine in Spain. 

their conduct after the storm, that they inher- 
ited their full share of the sins as well as the 
virtues of the children of Adam. The dis- 
graceful national vice of intemperance, in par- 
ticular, broke forth in its most frightful colors. 
All the wine shops and vaults were broken 
open and plundered. Pillage was universal. 
Every house was ransacked for valuables, spir- 
its, or wine ; and crowds of drunken soldiers 
for two days and nights thronged the streets, 
while the breaking open of doors and win- 
dows, the report of casual muskets, and the 
screams of despoiled citizens resounded on all 
sides." 

The throne of Joseph was now enveloped 
in gloom. To add to his trouble and anguish 
of spirit, a dreadful famine af&icted Spain. But 
the British fleet, in undisputed command of 
the seas, could convey ample supplies to the 
army of Wellington, and British gold was lav- 
ished in keeping alive the flames of insurrec- 
tion. Troops were landed at various points, 
and resistance to the French was encouraged 
by every means in the power of the British 
Government. At Madrid every morning there 
were found in the streets many dead bodies of 
those who had perished during the night. The 

19 



290 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

Desperate Condition of Joseph. 



Frencla in the capital, animated by the benevo- 
lent spirit of Joseph, imposed upon themselves 
the severest sacrifices to succor the perishing. 
The situation of Joseph had become deplora- 
ble. The best troops were withdrawn for the 
Kussian campaign. Those which remained 
were starving, and without means of transport. 
A new government, under the protection of 
the English, was organized at Cadiz, and guer- 
rilla bands were springing up in all directions. 
Joseph had but about twenty thousand 
troops in the vicinity of Cadiz, with which 
force he could be but little more than a spec- 
tator of events as they should occur. Wel- 
lington had a highly-disciplined army of six- 
ty thousand men, independent of the guerrilla 
bands whom he could summon to his aid. 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 291 

Increasing G-loom. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN. 

JOSEPH was much embarrassed. Should 
he leave his scattered forces in the south 
of Spain, there was danger that they would be 
attacked and destroyed piecemeal by Welling- 
ton. Should he withdraw them, and concen- 
trate his forces in the north, the whole south 
of Spain would be instantly overrun by the 
English, and Joseph would lose one-half of his 
kingdom. His total force in Spain, garrison- 
ing the forts and composing his detached bands 
in the south, the centre, the north, and the west, 
amounted to a little over two hundred and 
thirty thousand men. 

In the early part of May of this year, 1812, 
the English, having taken the defenses which 
were erected for the fortification of the Tagus, 
became dominant in that region. Disaster fol- 
lowed disaster. The King's couriers were cap- 
tured, so that his orders did not reach the mar- 
shals. It is hard to be amiable in seasons of 



292 Joseph Bonapaete. [1812. 

Defeat of Marmont. 

adversity, and the marshals reproached each 
other. Supplies and communications were cut 
off, and women and children were dying of 
famine. The deadly warfare of guerrilla bands 
increased rapidly. The most atrocious acts of 
vengeance and atrocity were multiplied, and 
Joseph had no power to prevent them. As 
Marmont was in danger of being cut off by 
Wellington, Joseph, leaving a small garrison 
behind him, took all the troops that could be 
spared, and marched rapidly to the relief of 
the marshal. Leaving the Escurial on the 23d 
of July, he reached Peneranda on the 25th, 
where he learned that Marmont had attacked 
Wellington on the 23d at Arapiles, and, after 
a desperate conflict, had been repulsed. Mar- 
mont was severely censured for not awaiting 
the arrival of Joseph, whom he knew to be at 
hand. He was accused, perhaps without rea- 
son, of precipitating the conflict from fear that 
Joseph might take the command and gain the 
renown. Marmont reported his total loss in 
the battle to have been about six thousand 
men and nine guns, which were left because 
their carriages were knocked to pieces. Wel- 
lington reported his own loss at five thousand 
two hundred and twenty. 



1812.] Expulsion feom Spain. 293 

Retreat of Joseph. 

Marmont retreated to Yalladolid, to meet re- 
enforcements which would join him there. Jo- 
seph returned to Madrid, entering the city on 
the 2d of August. As the Enghsh approach- 
ed, Joseph, with two thousand horse, met their 
advance-guard, and, with the courage of -de- 
spair, drove them back in the wildest confusion. 
He then, at the head of but twelve thousand 
troops, commenced his retreat toward Yalence. 
Twenty thousand Spaniards, men and women, 
dreading the vengeance of their enemies, fol- 
lowed, in his retreat, the King whom they had 
much cause to love. It was a mournful spec- 
tacle. Nobles of the highest rank, and the 
most intelligent and opulent of the city, toiled 
along in their weary march, the women and the 
children often unable to restrain their tears and 
sobs. The partisans of the English, who 
crowded into the city, received Wellington 
and his troops with every demonstration of 
joy. The friends of the new regime who re- 
mained behind, crushed in all their hopes, 
closed the shutters of their houses, retired to 
the remote apartments, and buried their griefs 
in silence. 

Into whatever city the English or the Frencli 
entered, they were alike received with unbound- 



294 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

Eetreat of Joseph. Spanish Exiles. 

ed enthusiasm. In every large city there is a 
throng ready to shout hosanna to the conquer- 
or, whoever he may be. When Wellington and 
his squadrons entered a Spanish city, the friends 
of the old regime gathered around them. And 
so it was with the French and their friends 
when they were the victors. Thus at Yalence, 
where Joseph arrived on the 31st of August, 
he was received with all th,e honors which 
could be conferred upon the most beloved 
sovereign. An immense crowd thronged the 
streets, and lavished upon him every demon- 
stration of gratitude. The devout King, much 
moved by this exhibition of popular affection 
in these dark hours of defeat and humiliation, 
repaired at once to the cathedral, and in a sol- 
emn Te Deum gave expression to his gratitude 
to God. 

Joseph's first care was for the unhappy fugi- 
tives who, dreading the vengeance of the foe, 
had abandoned home and all, to accompany 
him in his flight. He had neither money, food, 
nor shelter to give them. He therefore sent 
this sorrow-stricken band, counting over twen- 
ty thousand, under an escort across the Pyre- 
nees into France, where they would be protect- 
ed and provided for. 



1812.] Expulsion feom Spain. 295 

Keturn to Madrid. 

At Valence Joseph concentrated his scatter- 
ed forces, and early in November commenced 
his march back to Madrid. It is very difficult 
to ascertain the precise number of the forces 
on each side. Wellington's army was estima- 
ted at ninety-two thousand men. Joseph had 
collected superior numbers, and marched ea- 
gerly to attack him. Wellington rapidly re- 
treated toward Ciudad Eodrigo, and on the 3d 
of December Joseph entered Madrid again in 
triumph. 

Conciliation, kindness, deference to the wish- 
es of others are not characteristic virtues of the 
English. They had long assumed, and with 
no little semblance of reason, that in wealth, 
power, arts, and arms they were the leading- 
nation upon the globe. This assumption has 
made them unpopular as a people. They are 
so honest and plain-spoken that they never 
attempt to disguise their contempt for other 
nations. The victorious soldiers of Welling- 
ton particularly despised the Spaniards. This 
contempt neither officers nor soldiers attempt- 
ed to conceal. 

It is just the reverse with the French. The 
characteristic politeness of the nation leads 
them to compliment others, and to pay them 



296 Joseph Bonapaete. [1812. 

Difference between the French and English. 

especial deference. Thej conceal the sense of 
superiority which they may perhaps cherish. 
It is frequently said, as characteristic of the two 
nations, that the stranger in London gets the 
impression that every Englishman he meets 
has taken a special dislike to him personally ; 
in Paris, on the other hand, he receives the 
impression that every Frenchman with whom 
he is brought into contact has a special fancy 
for him, perceiving in him virtues and excel- 
lences which he never supposed that he pos- 
sessed. 

The Duke of Wellington himself was a 
haughty, overbearing man. No soldier loved 
him, but all bowed submissive to his inflexi- 
ble will. The deportment of the British troops 
in the Spanish capital was such as to alienate 
those who at first welcomed them, and they 
soon became universally disliked. The Span- 
iards are proud, proverbially proud ; and they 
could not endure this contemptuous assump- 
tion of superiority. So great became the dis- 
satisfaction that many of the Spanish generals 
proposed to unite their troops with those of 
King Joseph if he would grant them independ- 
ent commands. 

Exultantly the English on the Peninsula 



1812.] Expulsion feom Spain. 297 

Withdrawal of the French Troops from Spain. 

heard the tidings of the terrible disasters Na- 
poleon was encountering in Eussia. They 
could scarcely exaggerate them. It was mani- 
fest that for a long time, at least, Joseph could 
receive no assistance from France ; on the con- 
trary, many regiments of infantry and caval- 
ry, and a number of companies of artillery, re- 
ceived orders immediately to leave Spain, and 
to hasten to the aid of the Emperor. Joseph, 
thus hopelessly crippled, was directed by the 
Emperor to concentrate his enfeebled forces 
upon the line of the Douro. Leaving a garri- 
son of ten thousand men in Madrid, Joseph, 
with the remainder of his troops, retired toward 
the north. 

In Wellington's retreat from Madrid, his 
troops committed all imaginable outrages. In 
his dispatch to his officers commanding his 
divisions and brigades, he said : 

"From the moment the troops commenced 
their retreat from the neighborhood of Madrid 
on the one hand, and Burgos on the other, the 
officers lost all command over the men. Irreg- 
ularities and outrages of all descriptions were 
committed with impunity, and losses have been 
sustained which ought never to have occurred. 
The discipline of every army, after a long and 



298 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 



Outrages of the English. 



active campaign, becomes in some degree re- 
laxed ; but I am concerned to observe that the 
army under my command has fallen off in this 
respect, in the late campaign, to a greater degree 
than any army with which I have ever heen^ or of 
which I have ever readJ^^ 

Thus terminated the year 1812. The disap- 
pointment of the British Government, in view 
of the discomfiture and retreat of Wellington, 
was very great, and the indignation of that por- 
tion of the English people who were opposed 
to this interminable warfare against the new 
regime in France knew no bounds. That the 
English army had, through a long line of dis- 
astrous retreat, according to the testimony of 
its commander, inflicted outrages upon the 
Spanish people, its allies, greater than that com- 
mander had ever read of in history, keenly 
wounded the national pride. 

As fresh tidings arose of the disasters which 
had befallen Napoleon in the north, the Brit- 
ish Government renewed their zeal to assail 
him from the south. Large re-enforcements 
were sent out during the winter with such 
abundant su.pplies as to enable Wellington to 

^ Wellington to Officers commanding Divisions and Brig- 
ades, ix. 574, 575. 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 299 

Wellington intnisted with the supreme Command. 

commencg the spring campaign with every as- 
surance of success. The Cortes in Cadiz, with 
ever-varying policy, much to the disgust of 
many of the Spanish generals, invested the 
British duke with the supreme command. The 
opposition, however,^ was so great that the 
duke's brother, Mr. Henry Wellesley, who was 
then British ambassador at Cadiz, advised him 
not to accept the office. But the energetic 
duke was confident that, by combining the 
whole military strength of the Peninsula with 
the army and fleet of England, he could drive 
the feeble remnants of the French from the 
kingdom. He therefore undertook the com- 
mand. 

The Cortes was led to this decisive measure 
from the fact that there was a strong and in- 
creasing party of their own number in favor 
of rallying to the support of Joseph. Their 
only choice lay between Joseph or Ferdinand, 
or the experiment of a democratic repub- 
lic. "Wellington's visit to Cadiz, says Alison, 
" brought forcibly under his notice the misera- 
ble state of the Government at that place, ruled 
by a furious democratic faction, intimidated by 
an ungovernable press, and alternately the prey 
of aristocratic intrigue and democratic fury. 



300 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

Battle of Vittoria. 

He did not fail to report to the Gc^ernment 
this deplorable state of things." 

In the beginning of May Wellington was 
prepared to take the field with an allied army 
of two hundred thousand men. The navy of 
England actively co-op^ated with this im- 
mense force, conveying supplies and protecting 
the extreme flanks of the line, which stretched 
across the kingdom. The storm of war burst 
forth again in all its fury. Manfully Joseph 
contended to the last. In the vicinity of Yal- 
ladolid he had concentrated fifty thousand men, 
and hoped to be able there to give battle. But 
Wellington came upon him with an army one 
hundred thousand strong, which was reported 
to be one hundred and ninety thousand. 

The French on the 14th of June retreated 
to Tittoria. The garrison in Madrid and the 
civil authorities now abandoned the capital and 
took refuge with the army. Here a short but 
terrible battle ensued. The English had eighty 
thousand combatants on the field ; the French, 
according to their statement, had but half as 
many. Alison states their force at sixty-five 
thousand. It was an awful battle. Both par- 
ties fought desperately. The loss of the French 
was six thousand nine hundred and sixty ; that 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 801 

Victory of the British. 

of the English five thousand one hundred and 
eighty.^ The French arnny was impoverished 
after weary months of warfare, in a land stricken 
by famine, and wasted by the sweep of armies 
and the plundering of banditti. It was with 
very great difdculty that Joseph could support 
his destitute troops. Yet Alison, in that strain 
of exaggeration which sullies his often eloquent 
pages, writes : 

" Independent of private booty, no less than 
five millions and a half of dollars in the mili- 
tary chest of the army were taken ; and of pri- 
vate wealth the amount was so prodigious that 
for miles together the combatants may almost 
be said to have marched upon gold and silver, 
without stooping to pick it up." 

In the hour of victory Wellington seemed 
to have no control over his soldiers, whom his 
pen describes as drunken and brutal. Reeling 
in intoxication, they wandered at will. Wel- 
lington states that three weeks after the bat- 
tle above twelve thousand of his soldiers had 
abandoned their colors. " I am convinced," he 

^ King Joseph, writing to Clarke, tinder date of July 6, 
1813, says : " Our army at Yittoria was but thirty-five thou- 
sand. That fact can not be contested. The enemy had cer- 
tainly seventy thousand combatants. I can not be deceived 
when I say that his force was double of ours. " 



302 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812, 

Retreat of the French. San Sebastian, 

says in a dispatch to Lord Bathurst, " that we 
have out of our ranks doubled our loss in the 
battle, and have lost more men in the pursuit 
than the enemy have." 

The retreat of the French was conducted 
with the firmness and admirable discipline 
characteristic of French soldiers. As the 
troops slowly and sullenly retired toward the 
French frontier, pressed by superior numbers, 
they turned occasionally upon their pursuers, 
a*nd the advance-guard of the foe encountered 
several verv bloodv repulses. 

We have not space to allude to these various 
conflicts, which only checked for a moment the 
onrolHng tide of the victorious allied army. 
WelHngton's troops took the town of San Se- 
bastian by storm. This was a beautiful Span- 
ish city, through which the French retreated, 
and where they made a short and desperate 
stand. We will leave it to Mr. Alison to de- 
scribe the conduct of Lord Wellington's troops. 

"And now commenced," writes Alison, "a 
scene which has affixed as lasting a stain on 
the character of the English and Portuguese 
troops, as the heroic valor they displayed in 
the assault has given them enduring and ex- 
alted fame. The long endurance of the assault 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 303 

Escesses of the British Troops. 



had wrought the soldiers up to perfect mad- 
ness. The soldiers wreaked their vengeance 
with fearful violence on the unhappy inhabi- 
tants. Some of the houses adjoining the 
breaches had taken fire from the effects of the 
explosion. The flames, fanned by an awful 
tempest which burst on the town, soon spread 
with frightful rapidity. The wretched inhabi- 
tants, driven from house to house as the con- 
flagration devoured their dwellings, were soon 
huddled together in one quarter, where they 
fell a prey to the unbridled passions of the sol- 
diery. • 

*' Attempts were at first made by the Brit- 
ish officers to extinguish the flames, but they 
proved vain among the general confusion which 
prevailed. The soldiers broke into the burn- 
ing houses, pillaged them of the most valuable 
articles they contained, and rolling numerous 
casks of spirits into the streets, with frantic 
shouts, emptied them of their contents, till vast 
numbers of them sank down like savages, mo- 
tionless, some lifeless, from the excess. 

" Carpets, tapestry, beds, silks and satins, 
wearing apparel, jewelry, watches, and every 
thing valuable, were scattered about upon the 
bloody pavements, while fresh bundles of them 



804 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

Destruction of St. SebHstian. 

were thrown from the windows above to avoid 
the flames, and caught with demoniac yells by 
the drunken crowds beneath. Amidst these 
scenes of disgraceful violence and unutterable 
woe, nine-tenths of the once happy, smiling 
town of St. Sebastian were reduced to ashes. 
And what has affixed a yet darker *blot on the 
character of the victors, deeds of violence and 
cruelty were perpetrated hitherto rare in the 
British army, and which causes the historian 
to blush, not merely for his country, but for his 
species." 

The^iccount which is given by Spanish his- 
torians of these transactions is even far more 
dreadful than the above; so revolting that we 
can not pain our readers by transcribing it 
upon these pages. A document issued by 
the Constitutional Junta, after describing 
crimes as awful as even fiends could commit, 
adds: 

" Other crimes more horrible still, which our 
pen refuses to record, were committed in that 
awful night, and the disorders continued for 
some days after without any efficient steps 
being taken to arrest them. Of above six 
hundred houses, of which St. Sebastian con- 
sisted on the morning of the assault, there 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 805 

Joseph abandons Spain. 



remained at the end 'of three days only thirty- 



six."^ 



The Duke of Wellington, in his dispatch to 
the Spanish Minister of War, said, in reference 
to these excesses, that it was impossible for him 
to restrain the passions of his soldiers, that he 
and his officers did their utmost to stop the 
fire and to avoid the disorders, but that all 
their efforts were ineffectual. 

Joseph, in his retreat, threw three thousand 
men into the citadel of St. Sebastian. They 
held back the British army sixty days. Their 
skill and valor extorted the commendation of 
their foes. The siege cost the allied army 
three thousand eight hundred men, and delay- 
ed for three months the invasion of the south- 
ern provinces of France. 

Joseph slowly retreated, fighting his way, 
step by step, across the Pyrenees into France, 
pursued by the victors. On the 12th of April, 
Joseph, having crossed the mountains, and 
being thus driven from his kingdom, had no 
longer any legitimate power. The command 
of the French army devolved upon Soult. Ut- 
terly weary of the cares and harassments of 

'■ Manifeste par la Junte Constitutionale, et les habitans 
de St. Sebastien. 

20 



806 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 



Napoleon's last Struggle. 



royalty, for which Joseph never had any in- 
chnation, he joined his wife and children at his 
estate at Mortfontaine. England had wrested 
the crown of Spain from Joseph Bonaparte, 
one of the best men whom a crown has ever 
adorned, and soon, with the aid of allied Eu- 
rope, placed that crown upon the brow of Fer- 
dinand YIL, one of the worst men who has 
ever disgraced a throne. The result was that 
Spain was consigned to another half-century 
of shame, debasement, and misery. 

Joseph had scarcely re-united himself with 
his wife and children in their much-loved home 
at Mortfontaine, when the allied armies, num- 
bering more than a million and a half of bayo- 
nets, came crowding upon France from the 
north, from the east, and from the south ; while 
the fleet of England, mistress of all the seas, 
lent its majestic co-operation on the west. 
Then ensued the subliraest conflict of which 
•history gives us any account. Never before, 
in all Napoleon's world-renowned campaigns, 
had he displayed such vigor as in the masterly 
blows with which he struck one after another 
of his thronging assailants, and drove them, 
staggered and bleeding, before him. 

France was exhausted. All Europe had 



1812.] Expulsion from Spain. 307 

Joseph's Devotion to his Brother. 

combined to crush the Eepublican Empire, 
and restore the despotism of the old regime. 
Through an ahnost uninterrupted series of vic- 
tories, Napoleon lost his crown. . When in any 
one direction he was driving his foes headlong 
before him, from all other points they were 
rushing on, till France and Paris were well- 
nigh whelmed in the mighty inundation. In 
these hours of disaster, Joseph offered life, prop- 
erty, all to the service of his brother. They 
held a few hurried interviews in Paris, and 
then separated, each to fulfill his appointed 
task in the terrible drama. 

The Emperor confided to Joseph the de- 
fense of Paris, and the protection of his son 
and of the Empress. On the 16th of March, 
1814, the Emperor wrote to his brother from 
Eeims : 

" In accordance with the verbal instructions 
which I gave you, and with the spirit of all my 
letters, you ^nust not allow, happen what may, 
the Empress and the King of Eome to fall into 
the hands of the enemy. The manoeuvres I 
am about to make may possibly prevent your 
hearing from me for 'several days. If the eur 
emy should march on Paris with so strong a 
force as to render resistance impossible, send 



308 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 



The Surrender of Parif--. 



off toward the Loire the Eegent, my son, the 
great dignitaries, the ministers, the senators, 
the President of the Conseil d'Etat, the chief 
ofB-cers of the crown, and Baron de la Bouil- 
lerie, with the money which is in my treasury. 
J^ever lose sight of my son, and remember that 
I would rather know that he was in the Seine, 
than that he was in the hands of the enemies 
of France, The fate of Astj^anax, prisoner to 
the Greeks, has always seemed to me the most 
lamentable in history." 

Faithfully, energetically, wisely, Joseph ful- 
filled the mission intrusted to him. In every 
possible 'way he endeavored to aid the Emper- 
or in his heroic efforts ; recruiting troops, arm- 
ing them, and hurrying them off to the points 
where they were most needed.- It was not 
till the allied forces were upon the heights 
of Montmartre, and where further resistance 
would but have exposed the capital to the hor- 
rors of a bombardment, that lie consented to a 
surrender. All the arms in the city had been 
given out to the new levies, as they had been 
sent to the seat of war, and none remained to 
place in the hands of the populace, even were 
it judged best to summon them to the defense 
of the metropolis. A grand council was call- 



1812,] Expulsion from Spain. 809 

Great Perplexities. 

ed on the 29th of March. The ministers, the 
grand dignitaries, the presidents of the sections, 
of the Council of State, and the President of 
the Senate were present. 

The majority of the council were in favor 
of defending the city to the last possible mo- 
ment. There were at hand the two corps of 
the dukes of Ragusa and T revise, consisting 
of about seventeen thousand combatants, a few 
thousand of the National Guard, poorly armed, 
a few batteries served by the students of the 
schools and by the Invalides, and a few hun- 
dred recruits not yet organized. It was urged 
that the Empress, like another Maria- Theresa, 
should remain with her son in the city, to as- 
sure the populace by her presence, and em- 
bolden the defense. She was to show herself 
to the people at the Hotel de Yille, with her 
son in her- arms. Should the Empress- leave 
the city, it would so discourage the people 
that all attempts at defense would be hopeless. 
Should she remain, the danger was very great 
that both she and her son might be captured; 
and unless she should immediately escape, all 
egress might be cut off, as the Allies were rap- 
idly surrounding the city. 

Toward the close of the discussion, the Em- 



310 Joseph Bonaparte. [1812. 

The Empress decides to leave Paris. 

peror's letter to Joseph of the 16tli of March 
was presented and read. In this it will be re- 
membered that he said : 

" You must not allow, happen what may, 
the Empress and the King of Eome to fall into 
the hands of the enemy. Never lose sight of 
my son, and remember that I would rather 
know that he was in the Seine, than that he 
was in the hands of the enemies of France. 
The fate of Astyanax, prisoner to the Greeks, 
has always seemed to me the most lamentable 
in history." 

This settled the question. The situation of 
affairs was so desperate that for the Empress 
to remain in Paris would be extremely peril- 
ous. It was therefore decided that she, with 
the Government, should retire to Chartres, and 
thence to the Loire. But Joseph stated that 
it was important to ascertain the real force of 
the hostile army, which was driving before 
them the two marshals, Marmont and Mortier. 
He therefore offered to remain in the city, 
making all possible arrangements for its de- 
fense, till that fact should be ascertained. 
Should it be found that resistance was quite 
impossible, he would rejoin the Government 
u£on the Loire. 



1818.] Expulsion from Spain. 811 

Disappointment of Napoleon. 

It is very evident that Joseph and the as- 
sembled Senate, and that ISTapoleon himself, 
hoped that Maria Louisa, from her own in- 
ward impulse, would soar to the heights of a 
heroine. Napoleon could not ask her to come 
thus to his defense. At St. Helena the Em- 
peror allowed the regret to escape his lips that 
Maria Louisa was not able to rise to the sub- 
limity of the occasion. The Empress, how- 
ever, was but an ordinary woman, incapable 
of a grand action, and it is to be remembered 
that she must have been embarrassed by the 
thought that, in striving to arouse France for 
the defense of her husband, she was arraying 
the empire against her own father. Maria 
Louisa, as regent, presided over this private 
council. The session was prolonged until after 
midnight. Joseph and the arch-chancellor ac- 
companied the Empress to her home. It is 
evident, even then, that Joseph hoped that the 
Empress would assume the responsibility of a 
heroic act. M. Meneval, the secretary of the 
Empress, who was present at this interview, 
says : 

" After the exchange of a few words upon 
the disastrous consequences of abandoning 
Paris, Joseph and the arch-chancellor ventured 



312 Joseph Bonaparte. [1813. 



Panic in Paris, 



to say that the Empress alone could decide 
what course it was her duty to pursue. The 
Empress replied ' that they were her appoint- 
ed advisers, and that she could not undertake 
any course unless she was advised to do it by 
them, over their own seal and signature.' Both 
declined to assume this responsibility." 

The departure of the Empress was fixed at 
eight o'clock the next morning. Joseph had 
already passed the barriers, to proceed to the 
advance posts of the array to reconnoitre the 
foe. The day had not yet dawned, when the 
saloons of the palace were filled with those 
who were to accompany the Empress in her 
flight. Anxiety sat upon every countenance, 
and the solemnity of the occasion caused every 
voice to be hushed, so that impressive silence 
reigned. Early as was the hour, the alarming 
rumor that the Empress was to abandon Paris 
had reached the ears of the National Guard. 
Suddenly the officers of the guard who were 
stationed at the palace, with several others who 
had joined them, precipitately entered, and, by 
their earnest request, were conducted to the 
Empress. They entreated her not to leave 
Paris, promising to defend her to the last pos- 
sible extremity. 




ANGUISH OF MAKIA LOUISA. 



1813.] Expulsion" from Spain. 315 

Grief of the Empress. Departure of the Empress. 

The Empress was moved to tears bj their 
devotion, but alleged the order of the Emperor. 
Nevertheless, conscious of the discouraging ef- 
fect of her departure, she delayed hour after 
hour, hoping without venturing to avow it, 
that some chance might arise which would en- 
able her to remain. M. Clarke, the Minister of 
War, alarmed at the danger that soon all egress 
would.be impossible, sent an ofS.cer to the Em- 
press to represent to her the necessity of an 
immediate departure. Thus urged by some to 
go, by others to remain, the Empress was agi- 
tated by the most distracting embarrassment. 
She returned to her chamber, threw her hat 
upon her bed, seated herself in a chair, buried 
her face in her hands, and burst into an uncon- 
trollable flood of tears. ''O nay God," she 
was heard to exclaim, "let them decide this 
question among themselves, and put an end to 
this my agony." 

About ten o'clock the Minister of War sent 
again to her a message stating that she had not 
one moment to lose, and that unless she left 
immediately she was in danger of falling into 
the hands of the Cossacks. As Joseph was 
now absent, and she could receive no further 
counsel from him, she hastened her departure. 



316 Joseph Bonaparte. [1813. 



The Allied Armies. 



It was indeed true that the delay of a few 
hours would have rendered her escape impos- 
sible, for that very day the banners of the Al- 
lies presented themselves before the walls of 
the metropolis. 

Joseph had returned rapidly to the city, to 
make as determined a defense as possible. The 
National Guard hastened to the posts assigned 
them. Volunteers, many of them armed with 
shot-guns, advanced to operate as skirmishers 
against the foe. The students of the Polytech- 
nic School served the artillery confided to their 
"young and brilliant" valor. The thunders 
of the cannonade were soon heard, rousing the 
populace to a frenzy of courage. They rushed 
through the streets demanding arms, but there 
were none to be given them. The arsenals 
were all empty. 

The allied troops came pouring on like the 
raging tides of the sea. Their numbers in ad- 
vance and in the rear far exceeded a million 
of bayonets. It was all dynastic Europe ar- 
rayed against one man. Distinctly the allied 
kings had declared to the world that they 
were not fighting against France, but against 
Napoleon. 

The next day, the 30th, Joseph received a 



1813.] Expulsion from Spain. 317 

Joseph joins the Empress. 

note from General Marmont, written ii! pencil, 
from the midst of the conflict, stating that it 
would be impossible to prolong the resistance 
beyond a few hours, and that measures must 
immediately be adopted to save Paris from the 
horrors of being carried by storm. Joseph 
instantly convoked a council, and the opinion 
was unanimous that a capitulation was inevi- 
table. Accordingly Joseph at once sent Gen- 
eral Stroltz, his aide-de-camp, to Marshals Mar- 
mont and Mortier, authorizing them to enter 
into a conference with the enemy, while they 
were to continue their resistance as persistently 
as possible. 

All hope of defending Paris was now aban- 
doned. In accordance with the instructions of 
the Emperor, it was the duty of Joseph to join 
himself to the Empress and her son. At four 
o'clock he crossed the Seine. A few moments 
after the bridges were seized by the enemy. 
Kapoleon had retired to Fontainebleau. Pass- 
ing through Versailles, where he ordered the 
cavalry in that city to follow him, Joseph pro- 
ceeded tO'Chartres, where he joined the Em- 
press and her son, and with them advanced to 
Blois. He hoped to join his brother at Fon- 
tainebleau, there to confer with him upon the 



318 Joseph Bonapakte. [1818. 



Retirement of Joseph. 



measures to be adopted in these hours of dis- 
aster. With this intention he set out from 
.Blois, but squadrons of hostile cavalry were 
sweeping in all directions, and his communica- , 
tion beyond Orleans was cut off. He was 
therefore compelled to return to Blois. There 
he was in the greatest peril, for the Cossacks 
were in his immediate vicinity. He could 
neither reach the Emperor nor communicate 
with him. Neither could he ascertain the re- 
sult of the negotiation entered into at Paris 
with the foe. 

Almost immediately the news came of the 
Emperor's abdication. The Cossacks escorted 
Maria Louisa and the King of Eome to Eam- 
bouillet, where they were placed under the 
care of her father, the Emperor of Austria. 
The Emperor was sent to Elba. Joseph, who 
was still wealthy, purchased the estate of Pran- 
gins, on the border of the lake of Qelieva. 
Here he had a brief respite from the terrible 
storms of life, with his wife and children, in 
that retirement which he loved so well. 



1815.] Life in Exile. 319 

Attempt to assassinate Naapoleon. 



CHAPTEE XL 

LIFE IN EXILE. 

WHILE Joseph was enjoying his peaceful 
residence upon the shores of Europe's 
most beautiful lake, Madame de Stael hastened 
to inform him of a plot which had been reveal- 
ed to her for the assassination of the Emperor 
at Elba. The evidence was conclusive. Jo- 
seph was at breakfast with the celebrated tra- 
gedian Talma. Both Talma and Madame de 
Stael were anxious to hasten to Elba to in- 
form the Emperor of his danger. But Joseph 
sent a personal friend, and two of the assassins 
were arrested.^ ^ 

At Prangin, in 1815, Joseph learned that 
Napoleon had landed in France, had advanced 
as far as Lyons, and was desirous of seeing him 

^ "I thanked them for their generous offer, but preferred 
to charge with that difficult commission M. Boisneau, whose 
patriotism and personal attachment to Napoleon I had known 
at the siege of Toulon. You know with what success he ful- 
filled his commission." — Memoires du Roi Joseph, tome 
dixieme, j). 342. 



320 Joseph Bonaparte. [1815. 



Landing of Napoleon in France. 



in Paris as soon as possible. Joseph's wife, 
Julie, was then in Paris, having been drawn 
there by the sickness and death of the mother, 
Madame Clary. He immediately left his cha- 
teau, after having buried all his valuable pa- 
pers in a box in the forest, setting out secretly 
at ten o'clock at night, accompanied by the 
two princesses, his daughters. A few hours 
after his departure, an armed band, sent by 
the influence of the Allies, arrived at the cha- 
teau to arrest him. Joseph upon his arrival in 
France, immediately, with characteristic devo- 
tion, placed himself entirely at the disposition 
of the brother he loved so w^ell. ^ 

As Joseph traversed France, he was every- 
where met with great enthusiasm, the people 
shouting, "Napoleon the Emperor of our 
choice;" " The nation desires him alone ;" " JSTo 
aristocracy;" "Away with the old regime." 

Before the departure of the Emperor for 
Waterloo, many distinguished persons, among 
others Benjamin Constant, who assisted in 
drawing up the celebrated Additional Act, were 
introduced to him by Joseph. One day he 
conducted to the Tuileries the son of Madame 
de Stael, who bore a letter from his mother to 
the Emperor, in which, speaking of the Addi- 



1815.] Life in Exile. 821 

Attempt to Escape. 

tional Act, she said, "It is every thing which 
France can now need; nothing but what it 
needs, nothing more than it needs." 

In speaking of the " J.cfe Additionel,^'' Mr. 
Alison says, " It excited unbounded opposition 
in both the parties which now divided the na- 
tion, and left the Emperor in reality no support 
but in the soldiers of the army." A few para- 
graphs later, when stating that the " J.de" was 
submitted to the people to be adopted or re- 
jected by popular suffrage, he says truthfully, 
though in manifest contradiction to his former 
statement : 

"The ' Acte Additionel ' was approved by an 
immense majority of the electors; the numbers 
being fifteen hundred thousand to five hun- 
dred." 

After the disaster at Waterloo, Joseph was 
the constant companion of his brother during 
those few days of anguish in which he remain- 
ed in Paris. On the 29th of June he left the 
metropolis to join his brother, who had pre- 
ceded him, at Rochefort, where the two intend- 
ed to embark for America in two different 
ships, the Saah and the Medusa. After sever- 
al days of necessary delay, at four o'clock in the 
afternoon of July 8th Napoleon was rowed out 

21 



322 Joseph Bonapaete. [1815. 

Vigilance of the Allies. Generosity of Joseph. 

to the Saale^ which was anchored at a dis- 
tance from the quay. But the Bourbons and 
the Allies were now in power in France, and 
British guard-ships were doubled along the 
French coast. No vessel was allowed to leave. 

Joseph, who had received letters from his 
wife informing him of all that had transpired 
in Paris, proposed that the Emperor should re- 
turn to land, place himself at the head of the 
Army of the Loire, summon the population of 
France to rise en masse^ and again appeal to 
the fortunes of war. But the Emperor could 
not be persuaded to resort to a measure which 
would enkindle the flames of civil war in 
France, and which might also expose the king- 
dom to dismemberment, since the Allies already 
held a considerable portion of its territory. 

Joseph then urged his brother to embark 
in a small American vessel which chanced to 
be in the port, while Joseph, personating Napo- 
leon, whom he strongly resembled, should sur- 
render himself as the Emperor. It was thought 
that the British cruisers, thus deceived, would 
allow the American vessel to sail without a 
very rigid search. But the Emperor declined 
the offer to escape at the hazard of his brother's 
captivity. Neither would his pride of charac- 



1815.] Life in Exile. 823 

Joseph's Escape. 

ter allow him to seek flight in the garb of dis- 
guise. He therefore urged Joseph to leave him 
to his destiny, and to provide immediately for 
his own safety. 

During the whole of Napoleon's career there 
were always multitudes ready to lay down their 
lives at any time for his. protection. The cap- 
tain of the Medusa^ a sixty-gun frigate, offered 
to grapple the English frigate Bellerophon^ of 
seventy-four guns, and to maintain the une- 
qual and desperate conflict until the Saale 
could escape with the Emperor. But as this 
would be sacrificing many lives to his person- 
al safety, Napoleon declined the magnanimous 
offer. 

Leaving matters in this state of uncertainty, 
Joseph retired from Rochefort to the country- 
seat of a friend, at the distance of a few leagues. 
He left his secretary behind, to keep him in- 
formed of all that transpired. Two days after 
he received a letter announcing that the Em- 
peror had taken the -fatal resolution to surren- 
der himself to the British Government. Jo- 
seph could no longer be of any assistance to his 
brother, and he decided to leave France as soon 
as possible. Under the assumed name of M. 
Bouchard, he embarked at Royan on the 29th 



824 Joseph Bonapaete. [1815. 



Joseph escapes from France. 



of July, with four of his suite, on board the 
bark Commerce^ bound for the United States. 
The vessel was visited several times by the 
British cruisers without his being recognized. 
On the 28th of August, 1815, Joseph landed at 
New York, Captain Misservey, of the bark, 
was not aware of the illustrious rank of his 
passenger, but supposed him to be General 
Carnot. The Mayor of New York, under the 
same impression, called upon him as General 
Carnot, to congratulate him upon his safe pas- 
sage. 

There were at the time two English frigates 
cruising before the harbor of New York, to 
search all vessels coming from Europe. One 
of these frigates bore down upon the Commerce^ 
but the wind, and the skill of the American 
pilot, saved the ship from a visit. If the Eng- 
lish had succeeded in seizing the person of Jo- 
seph, they would have taken him back to Eng- 
land, and thence to Russia, where the Allies 
had decided to hold him in captivity. 

It was not known in America until Jo- 
seph's arrival that Napoleon had confided him- 
self to the English. The illustrious exile, 
much broken in health by care and sorrow, 
assumed the title of the Count of Survilliers, 



1815.] Life in Exile. 825 

Selects Point Breeze. Calumnies of the Allies. 

the name of an estate which he held in France, 
and sought the retreat of a quiet, private life, 
as a refuge from the storms bj which he had 
so long been tossed. 

After having travelled through many of the 
States of the Union, and having visited most of 
the principal cities, he purchased in New Jer- 
sey, upon the banks of the Delaware, a very 
beautiful property, called Point Breeze. Here 
he lived the sad life of an exile, reflecting upon 
the ruin and dispersion of his family, and ex- 
posed to every species of contumely from the 
European press, then controlled t)y the triumph- 
ant dynasties of the old feudal oppression. It 
was for the interest of all these regal courts to 
convince the world that the Bonapartes were the 
enemies, not the friends of humanity ; that they 
were struggling, not for the rights of mankind, 
but to impose upon the world hitherto un- 
heard-of despotism; and that in principles 
and practice they were the most godless and 
dissolute of men. In this they succeeded for a 
time, and there are thousands who still adhere 
to the senseless calumny. Terrible indeed is 
the condition of a family when it is for the 
vital interests of all the crowns of Europe 
to consecrate their influence, and lavish their 



326 Joseph Bonaparte. [1815. 

Noble Character of Joseph Bonaparte. 

money to blacken the character of all its 
members. 

But the noble character of Joseph Bona- 
parte could not be concealed. His record had 
been written in ineffaceable lines. His illus- 
trious name, purity of morals, large fortune, 
simple and cordial manners, and his wide- 
reaching liberality, endeared him greatly to 
his neighbors and multiplied his friends. His 
wife was in such extremely delicate health 
that it was not deemed safe for her to under- 
take a voyage across the ocean. But his two 
daughters, the*t*rincess Zenaide and Charlotte, 
and subsequently his son-in-law, Charles Bona- 
parte, elder brother of the present Emperor, 
Napoleon III., shared with him his exile. 

The entire overthrow of the popular gov- 
ernments which had been established by the 
aid of Napoleon, and the relentless spirit 
manifested by the conquerors, filled all lands 
with exiles. Many of the most distinguished 
men of Europe sought a refuge with Joseph, 
where they were received with the most gen- 
erous hospitality. When the tidings reached 
Point Breeze of the destitution in which Na- 
poleon was living in the dilapidated hut at St. 
Helena, Joseph immediately placed his whole 



1821.] Life in Exile. 327 

Death of the Emperor. Letter of General Bertrand. 

fortune at the disposal of his brother. It was, 
however, too late, and the Emperor profited but 
little from this generous offer. A few years 
passed wearily away, when in May, 1821, Na- 
poleon, through destitution, insults, and an- 
guish, sank sadly into his grave. General Ber- 
trand, who had so magnanimously accompanied 
the captive in his imprisonment at Saint Hele- 
na, and had shared in all his sufPe rings, commu- 
nicated the tidings of the death of the Emper- 
or to Joseph in the following touching letter. 
Greneral Bertrand had returned from Saint 
Helena, and his letter was dated London, Sep- 
tember 10, 1821 : 

'' Prij^ce, — I write to you for the first time 
since the awful misfortune which has been 
added to the sorrows of your family. Your 
Highness is acquainted with the events of the 
first years of this cruel exile. Many persons 
who have visited Saint Helena have informed 
you of what was still more interesting to you, 
the manner of living and the unkind treat- 
ment which aggravated the influence of a 
deadly climate. 

" In the last year of his life, the Emperor, 
who for four years had taken no exercise, alter- 
ed extremely in appearance. He became pale 



328 Joseph Bonaparte. [1821. 

Letter of General Bertrand. 

and feeble. From that time his health deteri- 
orated rapidly and visibly. He had always 
been' in the habit of taking baths. He now 
took them more frequently, and staid longer 
in them. They appeared to relieve him for 
the time. Latterly Dr. Antommarchi forbade 
him their use, as he thought that they only in- 
creased his weakness. 

" In the month of August he took walking 
exercise, but with difficulty ; he was forced to 
stop every minute. In the first years he used 
to walk while dictating. He walked about 
his room, and thus did without the exercise 
which he feared to take out-of-doors, lest he 
should expose himself to insult. But latterly 
his strength would not admit even of this. 
He remained sitting nearly all day, and discon- 
tinued almost all occupation. His health de- 
clined sensibly every month. 

"Once in September, and again in the begin- 
ning of October he rode out, as his physicians 
desired him to take exercise; but he was so 
weak that he was obliged to return in his car- 
riage. He ceased to digest; shivering fits 
came on, which extended even to the extremi- 
ties, Hot towels applied to the feet gave him 
some relief He suffered from these cold fits 



1821.] Life in Exile. 329 

Letter of General Bertrand. 

to the last hour of his life. As he could no 
longer either walk or ride, he took several 
drives in an open carriage at a foot pace, but 
without gaining strength. 

" He never took off his dressing-gown. His 
stomach rejected food, and at the end of the 
year he was forced to give up meat. He lived 
upon jellies and soups. For some time he ate 
scarcely any thing, and drank only a little 
pure wine, hoping thus to support nature with- 
out fatiguing the digestion ; but the vomiting 
continued, and he returned to soups and jellies. 
The remedies and tonics which were tried pro- 
duced little effect. His body grew weaker 
every day, but his mind retained its strength. 
He liked reading and conversation. He did 
not dictate much, although he did so from time 
to time up to the last days of his life. He felt 
that his end was approaching, and frequently 
recited the passage from 'Zaire,' which closes 
with this line : 

" ' A revoir Paris je ne dois plus pretendre.' 

" Nevertheless the hope of leaving this 
dreadful country often presented itself to his 
imagination. Some newspaper articles and 
false reports excited our expectations. We 



830 Joseph Bonaparte. [1821. 



Lettei' of General Bertrand. 



sometimes fancied that we were on the eve of 
starting for America. We read travels, we 
made plans, we arrived at our house, we wan- 
dered over that immense country, where alone 
we might hope to enjoy liberty. Yain hopes! 
vain projects! which only made us doubly feel 
our misfortunes. 

" They could not have been borne with more 
serenity and courage — I might almost add 
gayety. He often said to us in the evening, 
' Where shall we go? to the Theatre Frangais 
or to the Opera ?' And then he would read a 
tragedy by Corneille, Yoltaire, or Eacine ; an 
opera of Quinault's, or one of Moli^re's come- 
dies. His strong mind and powerful character 
were perhaps even more remarkable than on 
that larger theatre where he eclipsed all that is 
brightest in ancient and in modern history. 
He often seemed to forget what he had been. 
I was never tired of admiring his philosophy 
and courage, the good sense and fortitude 
which raised him above misfortune. 

" At times, however, sad regrets and recol- 
lections of what he had done, contrasted with 
what he might have done, presented them- 
selves. He talked of the past with perfect 
frankness, persuaded that, on the whole, he 



1821.] Life in Exile. 831 

Letter of General Bertrand. 

had done what he was required to do, and not 
sharing the strange and contradictory opin- 
ions which we hear expressed every day on 
events which are not understood by the speak- 
ers. If the conversation took a melancholy 
turn, he soon changed it. He loved to talk of 
Corsica, of his old uncle Lucien, of his youth, 
of you, and. of all the rest of the family. 

" Toward the middle of March fever came 
on. From that time he scarcely left his bed 
except for about half an hour in the day. He 
seldom had the strength to shave. He now 
for the first time became extremely thin. The 
fits of vomiting became more frequent. He 
then questioned the physicians upon the con- 
formation of the stomach, and about a fortnight 
before his death he had pretty nearly guessed 
that he was dying of cancer. He was read to 
almost every day, and dictated a few days be- 
fore his decease. He often talked naturally as 
to the probable mode of his death, but when 
he became aware that it was approaching he 
left off speaking on the subject. He thought 
much about you and your children. 

" To his last moments he was kind and af- 
fectionate to us all. He did not appear to 
suffer so much as might have been expected 



332 Joseph Bonaparte. [1821. 

i 

Letter of General Bertrand. 

from the cause of his death. When we ques- 
tioned him he said that he suffered a little, but 
that he could bear it. His memory declined 
during the last five or six days. His deep 
sighs, and his exclamations from time to time, 
made us think that he was in great pain. He 
looked at us with the penetrating glance which 
you know so well. We tried to , dissimulate, 
but he was so used to reading our faces that 
no doubt he frequently discovered our anxiety. 
He felt too clearly the gradual decline of his 
faculties not to be aware of his state. 

"For the last two hours he neither spoke 
nor moved. The only sound was his difficult 
breathing, which gradually but regularly de- 
creased. His pulse ceased. And so died, sur- 
rounded by only a few servants, the man who 
had dictated laws to the world, and whose life 
should have been preserved for the sake of the 
happiness and glory of our sorrowing country. 

"Forgive, prince, a hurried letter, which 
tells you so little when you wish to know so 
much ; but I should never end if I attempted 
to tell all. I must not omit to say that the Em- 
peror was most anxious that his correspond- 
ence with the different sovereigns of Europe 
should be printed. He repeated this to us sev- 



1821.] Life in Exile. 883 

Letter of General Bertrand, 

eral times. ^ Jn his will the Emperor expressed 
his wish that his remains should be buried in 
France ; however, in the last days of his life, 
he ordered me, if there was any difficulty about 
it, to lay him by the side of the fountain whose 
waters he had so long drunk." 

Joseph loved his brother tenderly, and he 
never could speak without emotion of the in- 
dignities and cruelties Napoleon suffered from 
that ungenerous Government to whose mercy 
he had so fatally confided himself Anxious 
to do every thing which he thought might grat- 
ify the departed spirit of his brother, he im- 
plored permission of Austria to visit Napole- 
on's son, the Duke of Eeichstadt, that he might 

^ The Emperor was very desirous that his correspondence 
with the allied sovereigns should be published. He wrote to 
Joseph from Saint Helena to secure their publication in the 
United States if possible. " It will be the best response," he 
said, " to all the calumnies which have been uttered against 
me." During Joseph's sojourn in England, he learned from 
Dr. O'Meara that the autograph originals of these letters ad- 
dressed by Napoleon to the sovereigns had been offered for 
sale in London in the year 1 822 ; that they had been in the 
hands of Mr. Murray, a well-known publisher ; that the letters 
relating to Russia had been purchased by a diplomatic agent 
of that power for ten thousand pounds sterling. There was 
no longer any hope of obtaining them, since they were in the 
hands of those interested in having them destroyed. — Me- 
vioires et Correspondence, Politique et Militaire du Roi Joseph, 
tome dixieme, p. 231. 



334 Joseph Bonaparte. [1824. 



Marriage of Princess Charlotte. 



sympatliize with him in these hours of afflic- 
tion. The Court of Austria refused his request. 

In 1824, Joseph's youngest daughter, the 
Princess Charlotte, left Point Breeze to join her 
mother in Europe, where she was to be married 
to Charles Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, the son 
of Louis and Hortense, and the elder brother of 
the present Emperor of the French. The tastes 
of Joseph inclined him to the country, and to 
its peaceful pursuits. He had, however, a city 
residence in Philadelphia, where he usually 
passed the winters. While thus residing on 
the banks of the Delaware, sadly retracing the 
memorable events of the past and recording its 
scenes, he received a proposition which sur- 
prised and gratified him. A deputation of 
Mexicans waited upon him at Point Breeze, 
and urged him to accept the crown of Mexico. 
The former King of Naples and of Spain in the 
following terms responded to the invitation : 

''I have worn two crowns. I would not 
take a single step to obtain a third. Nothing 
could be more flattering to me than to see the 
men who, when I was at Madrid, were unwil- 
ling to recognize my authority, come to-day to 
seek me, in exile, to place the crown upon my 
head. But I do not think that the throne 



1824.] Life in Exile. 835 

The Crown of Mexico. Visit of La Fayette. 

wMcli you wish to erect anew can promote 
your happiness. Every day I spend upon the 
hospitable soil of the United States demon- 
strates to me more fully the excellence of re- 
publican institutions for America. Guard 
them, then, as a precious gift of Providence; 
cease your intestine quarrels ; imitate the 
United States and seek from the midst of 
your fellow - citizens a man more capable 
than I am to act the grand part of Washing- 
ton.' 

When La Fayette in 1824 made his tri- 
umphal tour through the United States, he 
visited Point Breeze to pay his respects to the 
brother of the Emperor. Upon that occasion 
the marquis expressed deep regret in view of 
the course he had pursued at the time of the 
abdication of Napoleon. 

" The dynasty of the Bourbons," said he, 
"can not maintain itself. It too manifestly 
wounds the national sentiment. We are all 
persuaded in France tha,t the son of the Em- 
peror alone can represent the interests of the 
Eevolution. Place two million francs at the 
disposal of our committee, and I promise you 

* Quelque Mot sur Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte, par Na- 
poleon III. 



836 Joseph Bonaparte. [1824. 

General Lamarque. 

that in two years Napoleon 11.^ will be upon 
the throne of France."^ 

Joseph, however, did not think it best to 
embark at that time in any new enterprise for 
the restoration of popular rights to France. 
The Bourbon throne seemed to be for a time 
firmly established. Joseph was getting to be 
advanced in years. The storms of his life had 
been so severe that he longed only for repose. 

The following extracts from the correspond- 
ence of Joseph, while he was an exile in Amer- 
ica, throw interesting light upon his political 
principles and upon his social character. Gen- 
eral Lamarque was one of the veteran gener- 
als of the Empire. After the restoration of 
the Bourbons, he was highly distinguished for 
his eloquence in the Tribune as the antagonist 
of aristocratic privilege. ISTapoleon, when on 
his death-bed at Saint Helena, in view of his 
earnest support of popular rights, both on the 
battle-field and in the Chamber of Deputies, 
recommended him for a marshal of France. 
Those friends of the Empire who had been pros- 

^ The Duke of Reichstadt, son of the Emperor, then thir- 
teen years of age, living at Vienna, in the Court of the Em- 
peror of Austria, his grandfather. He died of consumption 
in July, ] 832. 

^ ffiuvres de Napoleon III., tome deuxieme, p. 439. 



1824.] Life in Exile. 387 

Letter from General Lamarque. 

ecuted for the part they took in the Hundred 
Days^ had found in him a zealoas friend. His 
devotion to the interests of Poland had secured 
for him the homage of that chivalrous people. 
The liberal party in France, with great unanim- 
ity, regarded him as their leader. Upon the 
occasion of his funeral, in June, 1832, the Lib- 
erals in Paris made a desperate endeavor to 
overthrow the government of Louis Philippe. 
The insurgents numbered over one hundred 
thousand. The attempt was bloodily repulsed 
by the royalist troops. On the 27th of March, 
1824, Greneral Lamarque wrote a letter from 
Paris to Joseph, from which we make the fol- 
lowing extracts : 

'' Monsieur le Comte, — The memory of 
your kindnesses lives as vividly in my heart 
as on the day in which I received them, and I 
ever seek occasions to prove this to you. Al- 
ready I have refuted, in many articles of the 
journals, the atrocious calumnies which have 
been published against you, and I ever avow 
myself to the world as your admirer and grate- 
ful friend. Be assured that your reputation is 
honorable and glorious. Truth has already 
dispelled many clouds ; soon it will shine forth 
in all its brilliance. 

22 



338 Joseph Bonaparte.' [1824. 



Letter from General Lamarque. 



"You do well to consecrate a portion of 
your time to writing your memoirs. It seems 
to me that the part most interesting will be 
your reign in Naples. You were there truly 
the philosopher upon the throne, which Plato 
desired for the interests of humanity. I recall 
your journeys in which you urged upon the 
nobles love for the people ; upon the priests 
tolerance ; upon the military, order and moder- 
ation. Not being able to establish political 
liberty, you wished to confer upon your sub- 
jects all the benefits of municipal regime, which 
you regarded as the foundation of all institu- 
tions. 

" Under your reign— too short for a nation 
which has so deeply regretted you — feudalism 
was destroyed, brigandage disappeared, the sys- 
tem of imposts was changed, order was estab- 
lished in the finances, administration created, 
the nobles and the people reconciled, new 
routes opened in all directions, the capital em- 
bellished, the army and marine reorganized, 
the English driven out of the whole realm, and 
Gaeta, Scylla, Eeggio, Manthea, and Amanthea 
taken. 

" Your memoirs will be a lesson for kings. 
But that they may be received with the relig- 



1824.] Life in Exile. 839 

Letter from General Lamarque. 

ions respect due to a great misfortune, it seems 
to me that you ought to efface yourself from 
the scene of the world, that your writings 
should be like a voice coming from the depths 
of the tomb, and that you should only ask of 
your contemporaries not to calumniate and 
hate the memory of a man who, having attain- 
ed the height of all dignities, has descended 
from it with serenity, with resignation, and al- 
most with pleasure. As to Spain, were I in 
your place, I should say but one word ; that 
word would be regret in not having been able 
to accomplish for Spain the good which was 
accomplished for Naples. 

" Like you, I have been proscribed. Like 
you, I have wandered in foreign lands, breath- 
ing always wishes for my country. I know 
how irritable and sensitive one thus is, and 
how keenly one feels the attacks of his ene- 
mies. But upon my return I perceived that 
in exile we exaggerate the importance of such 
attacks. Let not the calumnies which reach 
you, after having traversed the seas, disturb 
for a moment your domestic happiness, and 
the calm of your situation. They are the last 
gusts of the tempest, the last noise of the ex- 
piring waves." 



340 Joseph Bonaparte. [1829. 

Letter to Francis Leiber. 



In a letter to Francis Leiber, dated July 1, 
1829, Joseph, writes : 

" Walter Scott wrote for the English Gov- 
ernment, and from information furnished him 
by the Government which succeeded that of 
the Emperor Napoleon. Napoleon found 
France in delirium. He wished to rescue it 
from the anarchy of 1793, and from a. counter- 
revolution. That he well understood the na- 
tional will, his miraculous return from the isle 
of Elba will prove sufQ.ciently to posterity. 
The English Cabinet always prevented the sur- 
render of his dictatorship by perpetuating the 
war. ISTapoleon was thus under the necessity 
of assuming the forms of the other govern- 
ments of Continental Europe, to reconcile them 
with France. All that which Napoleon did, 
his nobility (which was not feudal), his family 
relations, his Legion of Honor, his new realms, 
etc., he was under the necessity of doing. The 
English ever forced him to these acts, that he 
might put himself in apparent harmony with 
all those governments which he had conquer- 
ed, and which he wished to withdraw from the 
seduction of England. Napoleon often said to 
me, ' Ten years more are necessary in order to 
give entire liberty. I can not do what I wish, 



1830.] Life in Exile. 341 

Letter to La Fayette. 

but only what I can. These English compel 
me to live day by day.' " 

As the tidings reached the ears of Joseph 
of the great Eevolution of 1830 in France, in 
which the throne of Charles X. was demol- 
ished, he wrote to La Fayette under date of 
Sept. 7, 1830 : 

"My dear GrENERAL, — General Lallemand, 
who will hand you this-letter, will recall me to 
your memory. He will tell you with what 
enthusiasm the population of this country, 
American and French, have received the news 
of the glorious events of which Paris has been 
the theatre. If I had not seen at the head of 
affairs a name^ with which mine can never be 
in accord, I should be with you immediately 
with Greneral Lallemand. You will recall our 
interview in this hospitable and free land. My 
sentiments are as invariable as yours and those 
of my family. Every thing for the French people. 

" Doubtless I can not forget that my neph- 
ew, Napoleon 11.,^ was proclaimed by the 
Chamber which, in 1815, was dissolved by the 
bayonets of foreigners. Faithful to the motto 
of my family, Every thing hy France and for 

^ Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. 

^ Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reiehstadt. 



34-2 Joseph Bonaparte. [1880. 

c : 

Letter to La Fayette. 

France^ I wish to discharge my duties to her. 
You know my opinions, long ago proclaimed. 
Individuals and families can have only duties 
to fulfill in their relation to nations. The na- 
tions have rights to exercise. If the French 
nation should call to the head of affairs the 
most obscure family, I think that we ought to 
submit to its will entirely. The nation alone 
has the right to destroy its work. 

"I ask for the abolition of that tyrannic law 
which has shut out from France a family which 
had opened the kingdom to all those French- 
men whom the Eevolution had expelled. I 
protest against any election made by private 
corporations, or by bodies not having obtained 
from the nation the powers which the nation 
alone has the right to confer. 

"Adieu, my dear general. My letter proves 
to you the justice I render to the sentiments 
you expressed to me during the triumphal 
journey you made among this people, where I 
have seen, for fifteen years, that liberty is not 
a chimera, that it is a blessing which a na- 
tion, moderate and wise, can enjoy when it 
wishes." 

To Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor 
of Austria, and mother of the Duke of Keich- 



1830.] Life in Exile. 343 

Letter to Maria Louisa. 

stadt, Joseph wrote tlie next day, September 
lOj as follows : 

" Madame my Sister, — The events which 
transpired in Paris at the close of July, and of 
which we have received intelligence, through 
the English journals, to the 1st of August, re- 
move the principal difficulties in the way of the 
return of ]N"apoleon II. to the throne of his fa- 
ther. If the Emperor, his grandfather,^ lends 
him the least support, if he will permit that, 
under my guidance, he may show himself to 
the French people, his presence alone will re- 
establish him upon the throne. The Duke of 
Orleans can rally around him partisans, onl}^ 
in consequence of the absence of the son of 
your Majesty. It is his re -establishment in 
France which alone can reunite all parties, sti- 
fle the germs of a new revolution, and thus 
secure the tranquillity of Europe. 

"If I were in a position to unfold to your 
august father the reasons which render this 
step indispensable on his part at this moment, 
he could have no doubt of its imperious neces- 
sity. His ministry would perceive that the 
happiness of his grandson, that of France, the 
tranquillity of Italy, and perhaps of the rest of 

^ The Emperor of Austria. 



844 Joseph Bonaparte. [1830. 

. Letter to Prince Metternich. 

Europe, depend upon the re-establishment of 
the throne of Napoleon II. He is the only one 
chosen by the voice of the nation. He alone 
can prevent a new revolution the results of 
which no mortal can foresee. I hope that the 
many misfortunes which we have encountered 
have not effaced from the heart of your Majesty 
the affection she has manifested for me under 
diverse circumstances. I can only offer to her 
myself for her son. For a long time I have 
been disabused of the illusions of human grand- 
eur ; but I am more than ever the slave of that 
which I deem to be my duty." 

On the 18th of September, 1830, Joseph 
wrote a letter to the Emperor of Austria, which 
he inclosed in a letter of the same date to 
Prince Metternich. In his letter to Metternich, 
Joseph wrote : 

"I do not doubt, sir, that you desire the wel- 
fare of the grandson of the Emperor whom you 
have so long served, the welfare of Austria, the 
tranquillity of Europe, and even of France, if 
these are all reconcilable. I am convinced 
that they are to-day perfectly reconcilable, and 
that Napoleon II. restored to the wishes of the 
French people can alone secure all these re- 
sults. I offer myself to serve him as a guide. 



1830.] Life in Exile. 345 

Letter to the Emperor of Austria, 

The happiness of my country, the peace of the 
world, will be the noble ends of my ambition. 

" ISTapoleon II. arriving in France nnder the 
national colors, conducted by a man whose sen- 
timents and patriotic affections are well known, 
can alone prevent the usurpation of the Duke 
of Orleans, who, being neither called to the 
throne by the rights of succession nor by the 
national will, clearly and legitimately express- 
ed, can maintain himself in power only by 
caressing all parties, and finally becoming sub- 
ordinate to the one which offers him the best 
chances of success, whatever may be the means * 
to be employed for that end." 

Joseph's letter to the Emperor of Austria 
contained the following expressions: "The 
particular esteem with which the virtues of 
your Majesty inspire me, embolden me to re- 
call myself to his recollection under circum- 
stances in which the general welfare appears to 
me to be in accord with the sentiments of his 
heart, that he may restore to the wishes of the 
French people a prince who alone can confer 
upon them internal peace, and assure the tran- 
quillity of Europe. This peace and tranquil- 
lity would be disturbed by the eftbrts which 
must be made to sustain in France a govern- 



346 Joseph Bonaparte. [1830. 



Letter to the Emperor of Austria. 



ment of usurpation like that of the Duke of Or- 
leans, or even a republic, if the absence of the 
son of Napoleon, the grandson of your Majesty, 
should constrain the nation, thus abandoned by 
the prince of its choice, to surrender itself to 
another form of government. Sire, if you 
will entrust to me the son of my brother, that 
son whom he enjoined, upon his death-bed, to 
follow my advice in returning to France, I 
guarantee the success of the enterprise. Alone, 
with a tri-color scarf, will Napoleon II. be pro- 
claimed. 

"Will it be necessary for me to speak of 
myself to your Majesty to give him confidence 
in my character ? Must I recall to his remem- 
brance that, after the treaty of Luneville, he 
communicated to me, through an autograph 
letter to Count Cobentzl, that the opinion he 
had formed of my moderation was such that 
he would • with pleasure see me placed upon 
the throne of Lombardy ? I refused that throne. 
I preferred to remain in France. Since then, 
at Naples, in Spain, has that character been 
falsified ? 

" To-day, as then, I am guided by the single 
sentiment of duty. My ambition limits itself 
to doing what I ought for France, for the mem- 



1830.] Life in Exile. 347 

Appeal to the Chamber -of Deputies. 

ory of my brother, and to die upon my native 
soil a witness of the happiness of'the grandson 
of your Majesty, which is inseparable from that 
of France .and from the tranquillity of Europe. 
I can only contribute to that to-day by my 
wishes. May your Majesty second them by 
his powerful influence, and thus consolidate the 
peace of the world and the eternal glory of his 
name." 

On the same day, September 18, Joseph 
wrote an earnest appeal to the French Chamber 
of Deputies.^ The following extracts will show 
its character. "It is impossible that a house, 
reigning through the principle of divine right, 
should maintain itself upon a throne from which 
it has been expelled by the nation. The di- 
vorce between the House of Bourbon and the 
French people has been pronounced, and noth- 
ing can destroy the souvenirs of the past. In 
vain the Duke of Orleans abjures his house in 
the moment of its misfortunes. A Bourbon 
himself, returning to France, sword in hand, 
with the Bourbons, in the train of foreign ar- 
mies, what matter is it that his father voted for 
the death of the King, his cOusin, that he might 
take his place? What matter is it that the 
^ CEuvres de Napoleon III. tome deuxieme, p. 441. 



348 Joseph Bonapaete. [1830. 

Appeal to -the Chamber of Deputies. 

brother of Louis XYI. named him lieutenant- 
general of the realm, and regent of his grand- 
son ? Is he the less a Bourbon ? Has he the 
less pretension of being entitled to the throne 
by the right of birth ? Is it through the choice 
of the people, or the right of birth, that he 
claims to sit upon the throne of his ancestors ? 
"The family of Napoleon has been elected 
by three million five hundred thousand votes. 
If the nation deem it for its interest to make 
another choice, it has the power and the right 
to do so ; but the nation alone. Napoleon IL 
was proclaimed king by the Chamber of Dep- 
uties in 1815, which recognized in him a right 
conferred by the nation. That he may be the 
legitimate sovereign, in the true acceptation of 
the word, that is to say, legally and voluntarily 
chosen by the people, there is no need of a new 
election so long as the nation has not adopted 
any other form of government. Still the na- 
tion is supreme to confirm or reject the titles 
it has given according to its pleasure. Till 
then, gentlemen, you are bound to recognize 
Napoleon II. And until Austria shall restore 
him to the wishes of France, I offer myself to 
share your perils, your efforts, your labors, and, 
upon his arrival, to transmit to him the will, the 



1830.] Life in Exile. 349 

Letter to General Lamarque. 

examples, the last dispositions of his father, dy- 
ing a victim of the enemies of France upon the 
rock of Saint Helena. These words the Emper- 
or addressed to me through General Bertrand : 

" ' Say to my son that he should remember, 
first of all, that he is a Frenchman. Let him 
give the nation as much liberty as I have given 
it equality. Foreign wars did not permit me 
to do that which I should have done at the 
general peace. I was perpetually in dictator- 
ship. But I ever had, as the motive in all my 
actions, the love and the grandeur of the great 
nation. Let him take my device, Every thing 
for the French people. It is to that people we 
are indebted for all that we have been. 

" ' The liberty of the press is the triumph of 
truth. It is that which should diffuse general 
intelligence. Let it speak, and let the will of 
the great mass of the people be accomplished.' " 

Again, on the 26th of September, Joseph 
wrote to General Lamarque: "The Duke of 
Orleans, by his birth, by his connection with the 
reigning branches of the family of Bourbon, 
which he in vain attempts to ignore, will soon 
be suspected by the patriots of France, and by 
the liberals of Italy and of Spain. The act 
which places him upon the throne, not emanat- 



350 Joseph Bonaparte. [1830. 

Letter to General Lamarque. 

ing from the nation, can not constitute him 
king of the French. A few capitalists in Paris 
are not France. He can not therefore have the 
cordial assent of the liberals of any country. 
He can not have the support of those who be- 
lieve in the legitimacy of the elder branch of 
his house. He can not have the assent of those 
who have not lost the memory of the votes 
which the nation gave to ISTapoleon, and to .Na- 
poleon II,, whom the Chamber of Deputies 
proclaimed in 1815. 

'' The Duke of Orleans, was he not a pupil 
of Dumourier ? Did he not, like Dumourier, 
desert the cause of the nation? Did he not, 
in London, in the presence of all the emigrant 
French nobility, ask pardon and make the 
amende honorable for having, for one instant, 
borne the national colors? Did he not go to 
Cadiz, sent by the English, to fight the Frencb 
troops who did not then wear the white cockade 
of the Bourbons ? Did he not enter France 
in the train of the Allies, sword in hand, with 
his cousins? Was he not rescued with them, 
and did he not owe to the disaster at Waterloo 
his return to France? 

" The thirty-two individuals who called him 
first to the lieutenant-generalship of the realm 



1830.] Life in Exile. 851 

Letter to General Bernard. 

would have called some one else if they bad 
not been greatly influenced by his rights of 
birth. Was there no other man in France 
more worthy to take temporarily the helm of 
state? General La Fayette, who was at the head 
of the provisory government, would he not 
have given to the nation, and to the friends of 
liberty and of order in the two worlds, stronger 
guaranties than a prince of the House of Bour- 
bon ? The enthronement of the Duke of Or- 
leans can be approved only by the enemies of 
France. His illegitimacy, both in view of the 
sovereignty of the people and of the partisans of 
divine right, is so evident that he can only gov- 
ern by being submissive to the will of the fac- 
tions, whom he will be compelled to obey, now 
one, and now another. The time for represent- 
ative govern ments has arrived. Liberty, equal- 
ity, public order can not exist where those gov- 
erning are of a different species from' those who 
are governed." * 

In a letter to General Bernard, on the 29th 
of September, Joseph uttered the following 
prophetic sentiment: "You were deceived by 
your informants when you said that the name 
of ISTapoleon was not pronounced by the com- 
batants. It was pronounced by them. It was 



352 Joseph Bonaparte. [1831. 



n 



Letter to La Fayette. 



pronounced by the Army of Algiers. It is to- 
day pronounced by the people in the depart- 
ments and will soon be by entire France. The 
artifices of intrigue and deception are tempo- 
rary. The national will, sooner or later, must 
triumph." 

La Fayette had been mainly instrumental in 
placing the Duke of Orleans upon the throne 
of France. He wrote to Joseph Bonaparte ex- 
plaining his reasons for this. In allusion to 
the fact that he was compelled to yield to the 
pressure of circumstances, he said, " You know 
that in home affairs, as in foreign affairs, no 
one can do just what he wishes to have done. 
Your incomparable brother, with his power,. his 
character, his genius, experienced this himself" 
He also expressed his strong disapproval of the 
dictatorship of JSTapoleon, and of the aristocra- 
cy which he introduced. Joseph replied from 
Point Breeze, under date of January 15, 1831 : 

"My dear General, — I have received your 
letter of the 26th of November. I am satisfied 
that under the circumstances you did that 
which you conscientiously thought it your duty 
to do. You have thought, as have I, and as 
did the Emperor Napoleon, that a republic 
could not, at present, be established in France. 



1831.] Life in Exile. 353 



Letter to La Fayette. 



You have recoiled before the confusion which 
it would introduce in the interior. You could 
undoubtedly have found a remedy for that in 
the family which the nation had called to such 
high destinies. But the hatred of foreigners 
against that family which France had chosen, 
inclined you to a prince between whom and le- 
gitimacy there was but a single child. ^ 

" My reply is short. Let France preserve 
peace and liberty with that family. Let such 
become the national will legitimately expressed^ 
and the conduct of the sixty-two Deputies, who 
have called the second branch of the House of 
Bourbon to power, will no longer be discussed 
by any one. Will this be done ? Time alone 
can tell us. 

" The portion of your letter in which you 
speak of the Napoleonic system as impressed 
with despotism and aristocracy merits, on mj 
part, a more detailed response. While I ren- 
der justice to your good intentions, I can not 
but deplore the situation in which you found 
yourself when released from the prisons of Aus- 

^ Charles X. abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Duke 
of Bordeaux, a child seven or eight years old. Should that 
child die, the Duke of Orleans would be the legitimate Bour- 
bon candidate for the throne. 

23 



354 Joseph Bonaparte. [1831. 

Letter to La Fayette. 

tria. That imprisonment did not permit you 
to j udge of tlie influence exerted upon tlie na- 
tional opinion and character by the wretched 
Eeign of Terror. You had only seen the liber- 
al system of America, and you have condemn- 
ed the all-powerful man who did not transfer 
that system to France. I remember that one 
day my brother, in coming from an interview 
with you, my dear general, said to me these 
words : 

'"I have just had a very interesting con- 
versation with the Marquis de la Fayette upon 
the subject of the disorderly persons whom the 
police has sent from Paris. I have said to him 
that this was done that they might not disturb 
the tranquillity of good men like himself, whose 
residence in France appeared to them one of 
my crimes.^ The Marquis de la Fayette does 
not know the character of these people in whom 
he interests himself He was in the prisons of 
despotism when these people made all France 
to tremble. But France remembers this too 
well. We are not here in America.' 

" Napoleon never doubted your good inten- 
tions. But he thought that you judged too fa- 

^ The Jacobins wished all Avhom they termed aristocrats 
guillotined or expelled from France. 



1832.] Life in Exile. 355 

Letter to the Duke of Reichstadt, 

vorablj of your contemporaries. He was forced 
into war bj tlae English, and into the dictator- 
ship by the war. These few words are the 
history of the Empire. Napoleon incessantly 
said to me, ' When will peace arrive ? Then 
only can I satisfy all, and show myself as I 
am.' 

" The aristocracy of which yon accuse him 
was only the mode of placing himself in har- 
mony with Europe. But the old feudal aristo- 
cracy was never in his favor. The proof of 
this is that he was its victim, and that he ex- 
piated, at Saint Helena, the crime of having 
wished to employ all the institutions in favor 
of the people ; and the European aristocracy 
contrived to turn against him even those Yerj 
masses for whose benefit he was laboring. 
The French nation renders him justice; and 
the European masses will not be slow to say 
that Napoleon had ever in view the suffrage 
of posterity, whose verdict is always in favor 
of him who has only in view the happiness of 
his country." 

On the 15th of February, 1832, Joseph 
wrote from Point Breeze to the Duke of 
Reichstadt as follows 

" My dear Nephew, — The bearer of this 



856 Joseph Bonaparte. [1832. 



Letter to the Duke of Eeichstadt. 



letter will be the interpreter of my sentiments. 
He has passed several weeks in my retreat. 
They have been occupied with the souvenirs 
of your father, and of your future lot. I was 
born eighteen months before your father. We 
were brought up together. Nothing has ever 
diminished the warm affection which united 
us. At his death he entrusted to me the care 
of communicating to you his last wishes. But 
before my distance from you enabled me to 
fulfill that duty, his testament had been pub- 
lished in all the leading journals of Europe. 

" When, in 1830, the house imposed upon 
France by foreigners was again expelled by the 
nation, I hastened to address to the Chamber 
of Deputies, and to his Imperial Majesty, your 
grandfather, the inclosed letters. But my dis- 
tance from France still thwarted my wishes, 
and the younger branch of that same house 
was again imposed upon France by a factious 
minority. Innumerable calumnies, intended 
to alienate the nation from you, were scattered 
abroad with profusion. A chamber, control- 
led by the Government usurping the rights of 
the nation, proscribed us anew. But the 
voice of the people called you. Of that I 
have conclusive evidence. 



1832.] Life in Exile. 857 

Letter to the Duke of Reiclistadt. 

"Let his Imperial Majesty consent to en- 
trust you to my care ; let him send me a pass- 
port that I may come to him and to you, I 
will quit my retreat to respond to his confi- 
dence, to yours, to the sentiment which com- 
mands me to spare no efforts to restore to the 
love of the French the son of the man whom 
I have loved the most of any one upon earth. 
My opinions are well known in France. They 
are in harmony with those of the nation. If 
you enter France with me and a tri-color scarf, 
you will be received there as the son of Ka- 
poleon. 

" When you were born in Paris, the 20th of 
March, 1811, your father had become, through 
the love of the French people as well as through 
the obstinacy of the English oligarchy making 
war upon him, the most powerful prince in 
Europe. The English oligarchy foresaw the 
prosperity which France, governed in accord- 
ance with the liberal doctrines of the age, 
would attain if she had peace. That oligar- 
chy feared the contagion of the example upon 
other states. Therefore it did not cease to 
employ the immense resources which the mo- 
nopoly of the commerce of the world placed 
at its disposal to excite against Napoleon ene- 



858 Joseph Bonaparte. [1832. 



*l 



Letter to the Duke of Keichstadt. 



mies at home and abroad, and to stifle, at its 
birth, the union of the peoples and the kings 
for the reform of the anti-social privileges of 
the oligarchy. It therefore provoked inces- 
sant war, and thus rendered France every day 
more powerful, through the victories she ob- 
tained under the direction of your father, 
whom it accused of the calamities inseparable 
from a war kindled by itself, and with the sole 
object of maintaining its unjust privileges. 

" It was at the close of a strife incessantly 
renewed, excited, by the Government of a na- 
tion sufficiently rich to pay the soldiers of the 
others, and sheltered by its insular position 
against all attempts against itself, that, after 
the triumphs of twenty years, your father suc- 
cumbed beneath the united efforts of the Al- 
lies of England, who perceived too late their 
fatal errors. 

" Napoleon was the friend both of the peo- 
ples and of the kings. He wished to reconcile 
them to each other. He wished to save other 
states from the misfortunes which a bloody 
revolution had inflicted upon France. These 
were the reforms which he desired, voluntary 
ameliorations, commended by the increasing 
civilization of the world, and the widely-ex- 



1832.] Life in Exile. 859 

Letter to the Duke of Reichstadt. 

tended interests of all classes, and not violent 
commotions, which always pass beyond the 
end desired. His greatest vengeance against 
England did not exceed that which th% advo- 
cates of the bill of reform seek for to-day. 

" I think that now you are placed in a po- 
sition to continue the work with which a di- 
vine genius inspired your father. France will 
accept you with enthusiasm. Factions will 
subside. The power with which your father 
was invested is no longer needful for the ac- 
complishment of his designs. It was war 
which elevated upon the thrones of Europe 
the princes of his family. But it was not that 
he might give them thrones that he engaged 
in war. They were military positions occu- 
pied during the general struggle which the oli- 
garchies had decided never to close but by the 
abasement pf France. It was necessary to al- 
low the conquered countries to be invaded by 
the republican system for which they were not 
prepared, or to cause them to be governed by 
men of whose devotion to France and to him- 
self he was fully assured. And where could 
he find better guaranties than in his brothers, 
whom nature, as w^ell as the favors which they 
had received from the nation, had destined to 



;60 Joseph Bonaparte. [1832. 

Letter to the Duke of Eeichstadt. 



share bis adverse as*well as his good-fortune, 
both inseparable from that of France ? 

" To-day time has borne its fruits. Nations 
are more enlightened respecting their interests. 
They know well that the most happy nation 
is that in which the greatest number of men 
enjoy the most prosperity ; which obeys a su- 
preme magistrate whom it loves, and who him- 
self has not the baleful power to abuse the life, 
the property, the liberty of the people, whom 
he represents only that he may protect the 
rights which they have entrusted to him. 
Such were the opinions, and especially the in- 
stinct, of your father. Every thing for the people! 
And at the general pacification which he de- 
sired with all his heart, Every thing hy the people, 
and for thepeople. He did not live long enough. 

" May I live long enough to see you return 
to our country, restored to herself, the worthy 
heir of his heart, all French, of his generous 
intentions. As for his immense genius, it is 
no longer necessary for France or for Europe. 
You are destined, by your birth, to unite peo- 
ples and kings, and to reconcile the old and 
the new civilization ; to prevent new upheav- 
ings, to moderate all political passions, and 
thus to bring forward that prosperity of indi- 



1832.] Life in Exile. 861 

Letter to the Duke of Keichstadt. 

viduals and of nations which can only arise 
from justice, from the free development of all 
I'ights, from the equilibrium of all duties. 

" Your father was accustomed to say to me, 
'When will the time arise when justice alone 
shall reign ? When shall I finish my dictatorship ? 
We do not yet see that time. The English oli- 
garchy will not have it so. My son perhaps will 
see it. May that presage be soon accomplished.' 

" This is also the fondest wish of my heart. 
Receive it with the tenderness of the old friend 
of your glorious father, at Point Breeze, State 
of New Jersey, in the United States of Ameri- 
ca, where I live as happy as one can be far 
from his country, in the most prosperous land 
upon the earth, under the name which I have 
adopted, of the Count of Survilliers." 

The elder brother of the present Emperor, 
ISTapoleon III., who had married the youngest 
daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, died in Italy in 
March, 1831. With his younger brother, Louis 
Napoleon, he had joined the Italians in their 
endeavor to throw off the yoke of Austria. 
The young prince, who had developed a very 
noble character, fell a victim to the fatigues of 
the campaign. By the vote of the French people^ 
the Duke of Reichstadt was the first heir to 



362 Joseph Bonaparte. [1832. 

Death of the Duke of Eeichstadt. 

the throne of the Empire. In case of his 
death, the crown passed to Joseph Bonaparte. 
As Joseph had no children, his decease would 
transfer the sceptre to his brother, Louis Bona- 
parte, and from Louis it would pass to Louis 
Napoleon, his only surviving son. 

When, in 1832, Joseph heard of the dan- 
gerous sickness of the Duke of Eeichstadt, 
whose death, as we have mentioned, would 
constitute Joseph first heir to the throne, he 
with some hesitancy decided to leave his peace- 
ful retreat at Point Breeze and repair to Eng- 
land. He hoped to obtain permission to visit 
his dying nephew in Vienna, and then to re- 
unite himself in Italy with his wife, and with 
his revered mother, who was still living. Upon 
his landing in Liverpool he received the sad ti- 
dings that the Duke of Eeichstadt had breathed 
his last on the 22d of July. He was twen- 
ty-one years of age, tall, graceful, affectionate, 
and of marvellous beauty. His mother and 
other friends wept at the side of his couch. 
Devoutly he partook of the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, and, with a smile lingering upon 
his cheek, fell asleep. We trust 

"Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, 
From which none e^'er wake to weep." 



' I 



wm 



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DEATH OF THE DUKE OF REICHSTADT. 



1832.] Last Days and Death. 366 

Joseph in England. 



CHAPTER XII. 

LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 

JOSEPH, finding himself in England in 
1832, and his nephew, the Duke of Reich- 
stadt, no longer living, took up his residence in 
London. He earnestly desired to join his wife 
and mother in Italy. But the jealousy of the 
Allies would not allow him, until he was abso- 
lutely sinking in death, to place his foot upon 
the Continent. His universally recognized vir- 
tues secured for him, from all classes of society,- 
a cordial reception. 

While Joseph resided in England, the cele- 
brated Spanish chief, Mina, who had been one 
of the most formidable * of the leaders of the 
guerrillas, made several visits to the ex-King, 
expressing the deepest regret that he had not 
sustained him. He stated to Joseph that his 
intercepted letters had so revealed his true 
character, that others of the leaders who had 
operated against him were now in his favor. 

La Fayette wrote Joseph a letter of sympathy 
in view of his double affliction in the loss of his 



366 Joseph Bonaparte. [1832. 

Letter from La Fayette. Letter from Joseph to La Fayette. 

son-in-law, Napoleon Louis, and his nephew, 
the Duke of Reichstadt. The letter, from 
which we make the following extract, was dat- 
ed La Grange, October 13, 1832 : 

" My dear Count, — I am deeply affected by 
those testimonials of confidence and friendship 
which you kindly give me. And I merit 
them by all those affections which attach me 
to you. It is with profound sympathy that I 
share in your grief from the two cruel bereave- 
ments. I should immediately have written to 
you in London, had I not been informed that 
you were on the route to Italy. I have, how- 
ever, since 'learned that vour entrance into 
Rome has been interdicted to your filial piety 
by a base and barbarous policy." 

La Fayette also expresses his deep regret that 
the Orleans Government persisted in the decree 
which banished the "Bonaparte family from 
France. Joseph, in a reply dated London, 
Nov. 10, 1832, writes : 

"My dear General, — I have received 
your kind letter, and I thank you with all my 
heart. It is true that I love, as much as you 
do, the institutions of the United States. But 
I am near to France, and I do not wish to see 
it vanish from my eyes like a new Ithaca. I 



1883.] Last Days and Death. 367 

Letter from Victor Hugo. 

prefer France to the United States as the resi- 
dence for m.y declining years, and I rely upon 
your powerful co-operation to secure that for 
me. It only remains for me to hope to see m}^ 
country as happy as that which I have just 
left — a country which I love above all others 
except my native soil. A day will come un- 
doubtedly, in which France will have no occa- 
sion to envy even happy America. As soon 
as it shall be clearly understood that all ought 
to devote themselves to the happiness of all, 
the most difficult thing will be accornplished. 
May we live long enough to witness that, and 
may I have the happiness of renewing my 
long friendship in our common country, in 
sometimes speaking to you of the admiration 
and gratitude with which you are regarded 
in the New World." 

The following letter from Victor Hugo re- 
flects such light upon the reputation of Joseph 
Bonaparte, as to merit insertion here. It was 
dated Paris, Feb. 27, 1833.: 

"Sire, — ^I avail myself of the first opportu- 
nity to reply to you. Monsieur Presle, who 
leaves for London, kindly offers to place this 
letter in the hands of your Majesty. Permit 
me, sire, to treat you ever royally, vous trailer 



368 Joseph Bonaparte. [1833. 

Letter from Victor Hugo. 

toujours royalement The kings whom iNTapole- 
on made, in my opinion nothing can unmake. 
There is no human power -vt^hich can efface the 
august sign which that grand man has placed 
upon your brow. I have been profoundly 
moved by the sympathy which your Majesty 
*has testified for me upon the occasion of m~y 
prosecution for ' Le Roi S^ amuse.'' You love 
liberty, sire. Liberty also loves you. Permit 
me to send you, with this letter, a copy of the 
discourse which I pronounced before the Tribu- 
nal of Commerce. I am very desirous that 
you should see it in a form different from the 
reports in the journals, which are always in- 
exact. 

" I should be very happy, sire, to go to 
London to clasp that royal hand which. has so 
often clasped the hand of my father. M. Presle 
will inform your Majesty of the obstacles which 
at the present moment prevent me from real- 
izing a wish so dear. I. have very many things 
to say to you. It is impossible that the future 
should be wanting to your familj^, great as has 
been the loss of the past year. You bear the . 
grandest of historic names. Li truth, we are 
moving rather toward a republic than' toward 
a monarchy. But, to a sage like you, the ex- 



1833.] Last Days and Death. 369 

Letter from the Duchess of Abrantes. 

terior form of government is of but little im- 
portance. You have proved, sire, that yoa 
know how to be worthily the citizen of a re- 
public. Adieu, sire ,• the day in which I shall 
be permitted to press your hand in mine will 
be one of the most 'glorious of my life. While 
waiting for this your letters render me proud 
and happy." 

The celebrated Duchess of Abrantes, wife 
of Marshal Junot, sent her Memoirs to King 
Joseph by the hands of M. Presle. The fol- 
lowing extracts from the letter of the duchess 
to M. Presle shows the enthusiastic attachment 
which Joseph won from his friends. The let- 
ter is dated Paris, 1833 : 

" Will you be so good, sir, as to have the 
kindness to take charge of the book which I 
send with this, and also of the letter which I 
address to his Majesty, King Joseph? I ear- 
nestly desire that both should be transmitted 
to him as promptly as possible. I very much 
wish, sir, I could have the pleasure of seeing 
you. My attachment for King Joseph is so 
profound and so true, of such long-standing, so 
established upon bases which can never crum- 
ble, that I would give days of my life to talk 
a moment with persons loving him as I do, and 

24 



370 Joseph Bonaparte, [1833. 



Letter from the Duchess of Abrantes. 



speaking to me as I speak of him and think of 
him. As for me, to see him for one moment 
would be now the fulfillment of the most ar- 
dent of mj wishes. 

." With these feelings, you will perceive, sir, 
how happy I shall be to have him soon re- 
ceive this letter, which I entrust to you. It 
contains my wishes for the new year. And I 
can truly say that there is not another heart 
in France more sincerely devoted to his happi- 
ness — his true happiness and his glory. Ah ! 
sir, I assure him that in France there is one 
being who is warmly attached, sincerely de- 
voted to him, as are all hers. My children 
have been cradled in the name of Napoleon, 
and that without concealment. The misfor- 
tune of their father has been an additional tie 
to attach them to the memory of the Emperor, 
and to all those who bear his revered name. 
The bust of the Emperor is in my alcove, by 
the side of the font in which I place my lus- 
tral water. There I every morning and even- 
ing repeat my prayers. Why should I not 
say this? I do it because my love for my 
country constrains me to fall upon my knees 
before that name which constituted its glory 
and its happiness for fifteen years." 



1833.] Last Days and Death. 371 

Kestoration of Napoleon's Statue to the Column of Austerlitz. 

On the 28tli of July, 1833, the Louis Phi- 
lippe Government, in reluctant concession to 
the almost universal voice of the French people, 
restored the statue of Napoleon to the Column 
of Austerlitz, in the Place Yendome. It is 
scarcely too much to say that as that statue 
rose to its proud eminence, the whole French 
nation raised a shout of joy. A Parisian jour- 
nal. The Tribune^ intending perhaps to reflect 
upon the Government, expressed surprise in not 
seeing a single member of the Bonaparte family 
shaking the dust of exile from his feet, and 
coming, in the broad light of July, claiming a 
"just reparation." Joseph wrote to the editor 
from London a letter containing the following 
sentiments : 

"I have read in your journal of July 29th 
the article in which you give an account of the 
solemnity which took place on the 28th at the 
foot of the Column of Austerlitz, upon the in- 
auguration of the statue of the Emperor Na- 
poleon. You attribute the absence of his broth- 
ers to very strange sentiments. Are you ig- 
norant, then, that an iniquitous law, dictated 
by the enemies of France to the elder branch 
of the Bourbons, excluded these brothers, out 
of hatred to the name of Napoleon ? Would 



372 Joseph Bonaparte. [1838. 

Eestoration of Napoleon's Statue to the Column of Austerlitz. 

you wisli that, in defiance of a law which the 
National Majesty has not yet repealed, we 
should bear the brands of discord into our 
country at the moment when it re-erects the 
statue of our brother ? Every thing for the na- 
tion^ was the motto of our brother. It shall be 
ours also. 

"Instead of speaking, as a hostile journal 
would have done, in casting the blame upon 
patriots proscribed, who wander over the world 
the victims of the enemies of their country, 
would it not have exhibited more of courage 
and of justice on your part, sir, to recall to the 
electors of France that Napoleon has a mother 
who languishes upon a foreign soil, without it 
being possible for her children to speak to her 
a last adieu ? She shares with three genera- 
tions of her kindred, including sixty French, 
the rigors of an exile of twenty years. They 
are guilty of no other crime than that of being 
the relatives of a man whose statue is re-erect- 
ed by national decree. 

" The name of Napoleon will never be the 
banner of civil discord. Twice he withdrew 
from France, that he might not be the pretext 
for the infliction of calamities upon his coun- 
try. Such are the doctrines which Napoleon 



1834.] Last Days and Death. 873 

The Law of Proscription. 

has bequeathed to his family. It is because 
the French people know well that his pretend- 
ed despotism was but a dictatorship, rendered 
necessary by the wars which his enemies waged 
against him, that his memory remains popular 
Is it just, is it honorable that his family should 
still be condemned to endure the anguish of 
exile, and to hear even his ancient enemies re- 
proach the French with the injustice of their 
proscription ?" 

This law of proscription, dictated by the 
Allies on the 12th of January, 1816, and re-af- 
firmed by the Grovernment of Louis Philippe, 
was as follows : 

" The ascendants and descendants of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, his uncles and his aunts, his 
nephews and his nieces, his brothers, their 
wives and their descendants, his sisters and their 
husbands, are excluded from the realm forever." 
The penalty for violating this decree of ban- 
ishment was death. Madame Letitia had been 
informed in Rome that the Louis Philippe 
Government contemplated abolishing the de- 
cree of exile, so far as she alone was concerned. 
In response she wrote, April, 1834, to a distin- 
guished gentleman in Paris, M. Sapey, as fol- 
lows : 



i 



874 Joseph Bonaparte. [1834. 

Letter from Madame Letitia. 

"MoNSiEUE, — Those who recognize the ab- 
surdity of maintaining the law of exile against 
my family, and who wish nevertheless to pro- 
pose an exception, do not know either my 
principles or my character. I was left a widow 
at thirty-three years of age, and my eiglit chil- 
dren were my only consolation. Corsica was 
menaced with separation from France. The 
loss of my property and the abandonment of 
my fireside did not terrify me. I followed my 
children to the Continent. In 1814 I followed 
Napoleon to the island of Elba. In 1816, 
notwithstanding my age, I should have follow- 
ed him to Saint Helena had it not been pro- 
hibited. I resigned myself to live a prisoner 
of state at Eome ; yes, a prisoner of state. I 
know not whether that was through an ampli- 
fication of the law which exiled me with my 
family from France, or by a protocol of the 
allied powers. 

"I then saw persecution reach such a pitch 
as to compel the members of my family, who 
had devoted themselves to liv& with me at 
Eome, to abandon the city. I then decided to 
•withdraw from the world, and to seek no other 
happiness than that of the future life ; since I 
saw myself separated from those for whom I 



1835.] Last Days and Death. 875 

Letter from Joseph to Louis, 

clung to life, and . in whom reposed all my 
souvenirs and all my happiness, if there were 
any more happiness remaining for me in this 
world. How could I hope to find any equiva- 
lent in France, which was not already poison- 
ed by the injustice of men in power who could 
not pardon my family the glory which it has 
acquired ? 

"Leave me, then, in my honorable suffer- 
ings, that I may bear to the tomb .the integrity 
of my character. I will never separate my lot 
from that of my children. It is the only con- 
solation which remains to me. Receive, never- 
theless, monsieur, my thanks for the kind in- 
terest which you have taken in my affairs." 

On the 15th of Januarj^, 1835, Joseph wrote 
to his brother Louis, the father of JSTapoleon 
IIL, as follows : 

" My deak Brothee, — I have received 
your letter of the 27th of December. I am 
afflicted by the depression of spirits in which 
it was written. It is true that for many years 
fortune has been constantly severe with us. 
But it is something to be able to say to one's 
self that fortune is blind. And an irreproach- 
able conscience and a good heart offer many 
consolations. They accompany us wherever 



876 Joseph Bonapaete. [1835. 



Letter from Joseph to Louis. 



we go, arid prevent us from being too severe 
in our turn against fortune and her favorites 
of the day. 

" It is indeed true that there are but few 
gleams of happiness to be met in this life. 
The least unfortunate have still their storms. 
There are but few privileged men. How many 
there are whom we must admit to be more un- 
happy than we are. And we do not sufficient- 
ly take into account the sufferings of dishonor- 
ed men, whose conscience will at times awake 
and react upon those who have done it vio- 
lence. Those who have borne arms against 
their country, against their benefactor, who 
have sold their services to foreigners, think 
3'ou they can be happy ? The consciousness 
of not having merited the abandonment of 
which you speak, is not that a happy senti- 
ment? It is necessary then for us to perceive 
what we are in this life, and not what we could 
wish to be. Being men, we are destined to 
live, that is to say, to suffer. But we can pre- 
serve our own self-respect, and the esteem of 
the friends who appreciate us. So long as that 
continues, one is not absolutely unhappy. In 
that point of view, no person ought to be more 
satisfied than j^ourself, my dear Louis. All 



1835.] Last Days and Death. 377 

Meeting of the Brothers in London. 

Other evils over which we have no control are 
hard to endure, undoubtedly. But their neces- 
sity, in spite of ourselves, should lead us to 
bear them. We ought to submit to that which 
we can not prevent. 

" Still, I can say nothing upon this subject 
which you do not know as well as I do. But 
I am not writing a dissertation. I recount my 
sensations and my sentiments as they flow from 
my pen. The consciousness of not meriting 
the evil wliich one suffers greatly mitigates that 
evil. Adieu, my dear Louis. I love you as 
ever. We have not known any revolutions in 
our affections." 

Soon after Joseph had established himself 
in London, he called his brothers Lucien and 
Jerome, and his nephew, Prince Louis Napole- 
on, to join him there. The acts of the Govern- 
ment of Ijouis Philippe and the intense opposi- 
tion they encountered engrossed his meditations. 
Fully satisfied that the Government could not 
maintain itself in the course it was pursuing, 
Joseph deemed it important for the triumph 
of what he called the popular cause, to effect a 
cordial union between the Republican and Im- 
perial parties. The Government thwarted this 
union by sending spies into the clubs, who, 



378 Joseph Bonaparte. [1836. 



Testimony of Louis Napoleon. 



joining those associations, assumed to be earn- 
est democrats, and strove in every way to pro- 
mote discord, while they extolled in most ex- 
travagant terms the bratal deeds of Marat, St. 
Just, and Eobespierre. Joseph could not act 
in harmony with such men, and the projected 
alliance was abandoned.^ 

In a brief sketch which Louis Napoleon, 
while a prisoner at Ham, wrote of his uncle 
Joseph just after his death, he says : "In gen- 
eral. Prince Louis Napoleon was in accord with 
his uncle upon all fundamental questions; 
but he differed from him upon one essential 
point, which offered a very strange contrast. 
The old man, whose days were nearly finished, 
did not wish to precipitate any thing. He was 
resigned to await the developments of time. 
But the young man, impatient, wished to act, 
and to precipitate events. 

"•The insurrection at Strasbourg, in the 
month of October, 1836, thus took place with- 
out the authorization and without the participa- 
tion of Joseph. He was also much displeased 
with it, since the journals deceived him respect- 
ing the aim and intentions of his nephew. In 
1837 Joseph revisited America. Upon his re- 

^ CEiivres de Napoleon III. , tome deuxieme, p. 449. 



1837.] Last Days and Death. 879 

The Attempt at Strasbourg. 

turn to Europe in 1839 he found his nephew 
in England. Then, enlightened respecting the 
object, the means, and the plans of Prince Lou- 
is Napoleon, he restored to him all his tender- 
ness. The publication of Les Idees Napoleo- 
niennes merited his entire approbation. And 
upon that occasion he declared openly that, in 
his quality of friend and depositary of the most 
intimate thoughts of the Emperor, he could say 
positively that that book contained the exact 
and faithful record of the political intentions 
of his brother." 

It will be remembered that Louis Napoleon, 
after the attempt at Strasbourg, was sent in a 
French frigate to Brazil, and thence to New 
York, where he remained but a few weeks, 
when he returned to Europe to his dying moth- 
er. At New York, under date of April 22, 
1837, he wrote the following letter to his uncle 
Joseph at London. The letter very clearly re- 
veals the relation then existing between them. 

" My dear Uncle, — Upon my arrival in the 
United States, I hoped to have found a letter 
from you. I confess to you that I have been 
deeply pained to learn that you were displeased 
with me. I have even been astonished by it, 
knowing your judgment and your heart. Yes, 



880 Joseph Bonaparte. [1837. 

Lettei' from Louis Napoleon to his Uncle Joseph. 

my uncle, you must have been strangely led 
into error in respect to me, to repel as enemies 
men who have devoted themselves to the cause 
of the Empire. 

" If, successful at Strasbourg, and it was very 
near a success, I had marched upon Paris, draw- 
ing after me the populations fascinated by 
the souvenirs of the Empire, and, arriving in 
the capital a pretender, I had seized upon the 
legal power, then indeed there would have been 
nobleness and grandeur of soul in disavowing 
my conduct, and in breaking with me. 

"But how is it ? I attempt one of those 
bold enterprises which could alone re-establish 
that which twenty years of peace have caused 
to be forgotten. ■ I throw myself into the at- 
tempt, ready to sacrifice my life, persuaded that 
my death even would be useful to our cause. 
I escape, against my wishes, the bayonets and 
the scaffold ; and, having escaped, I find on 
the part of my familj?- only contumely and dis- 
dain. 

"If the sentiments of respect and esteem 
with which I regard you were not so sincere, I 
should not so deeply feel your conduct in re- 
spect to me ; for I venture to say that public 
opinion can never admit that there is any alien- 



1837.] Last Days and Death. 381 

Letter from Louis Napoleon to his Uncle Joseph. 

atiou between us. ISTo person can comprehend 
that you disavow your nephew because he has 
exposed himself in your cause. No one can 
comprehend that men who have perilled their 
lives and their fortune to replace the eagle upon 
our banners can be regarded by you as enemies, 
any more than they could comprehend that 
Louis XYIII. would repel the Prince of Conde 
or the Due d'Bnghien because they had been 
unfortunate in their enterprises. 

"I know you too well, my dear uncle, to 
doubt the goodness of your heart, and not to 
hope that you will return to sentiments more 
just in respect to me, and in respect to those 
who have compromised themselves for your 
cause. As for myself, whatever may be your 
procedure in reference to me, my line of con- 
duct will be ever the same. The sympathy of 
which so many persons have given me proofs ; 
my conscience, which does in nothing reproach 
me ;* in fine, the conviction that if the Emperor 
beholds me from his elevation in the skies, he 
would approve my conduct, are so many com- 
pensations for all the mortifications and injus- 
tice which I have experienced. ' My enterprise 
has failed ;-that is true. But it has announced 
to France that the family of the Emperor is not 



382 Joseph Bonaparte. [1840. 

Letter from Louis Napoleon to his Uncle Joseph. 

yet dead ; that it still numbers many devoted 
friends ; in fine, that their pretensions are not 
limited to the demand of a few pence from the 
Government, but to the re-establishment, in 
favor of the people, of those rights of which 
foreigners and the Bourbons have deprived 
them. This is what I have done. Is it for 
you to condemn me? 

" I send you with this a recital of my re- 
movement from the prison of Strasbourg, that 
you may be fully informed of all my proceed- 
ings, and that you may know that I have done 
nothing unworthy of the name which I bear. 
I beg you to present my respects to my uncle 
Lucien. I rely upon his judgment and affec- 
tion to be my advocate with you. I entreat 
you, my dear uncle, not to be displeased with 
the laconic manner in which I represent these 
facts, such as they are. Never doubt my un- 
alterable attachment to you. 

"Your tender and respectful nephew, 

"Napoleon Louis.'" 

In 1840 the health of Joseph began to be 

^ For a short time after the death of his elder brother, 
Louis Napoleon, in accordance with the understood wish of 
the Emperor, adopted the signature of Napoleon Louis. 
Soon, however, he again resumed his original name. 



1843.] Last Days and Death. 883 

Failing Health of Joseph. 

seriously impaired. In London he had an at- 
tack of paralysis, which induced him to go to 
the warm baths of Wildbad, in Wurtemberg. 
He was somewhat benefited by the waters, and 
cherished the hope that he might join members 
of his family in Italy. But the Continental 
sovereigns so feared the potency of the name 
of Bonaparte upon the masses of the people 
that his request was peremptorily refused. 
Thus repulsed, he returned to the cold climate 
of England. 

In 1841, the King of Sardinia, who was 
strongly leaning toward popular principles, 
allowed Joseph to take up his residence in 
Genoa. He was conveyed to that city in an 
English ship. He had been there but a few 
weeks, when the Duke of Tuscany, commiser- 
ating his dying condition, kindly consented 
that he should join his wife, his children, and 
his brothers in Florence. 

In 1842 Joseph bequeathed to the principal 
cities of Corsica several hundred valuable 
paintings, which he had received as a legacy 
from his uncle, Cardinal Fesch. 

In 1843, the Government of Louis Philippe, 
with marvellous inconsistency, voted to demand 
the remains of the Emperor Napoleon from 



)84 Joseph Bonaparte. [1848. 



The Remains of the? Emperor brought back to France. 

the British Government, and to rear to his 
honor, beneath the dome of the Invalides, the 
monument of a nation's gratitude, while at 
the same time that-Grovernment persisted in 
banishing from France all the members of the 
Napoleon family. 

A very earnest petition was sent at this 
time, to the Government, numerously signed 
by Frenchmen, praying that the decree of 
banishment against the Bonaparte family 
might be annulled. But the Louis Philippe 
Government declared in council that the reso- 
lution of the Government to prolong the exile 
of the family of Napoleon was positive and 
unchanging. Joseph wrote a letter of thanks 
in behalf of the Bonaparte family to the sign- 
ers of the petition, in which he said : 

" The elder branch of the Bourbons, brought 
back to France by foreign bayonets, we have 
ever frankly treated as enemies. They did not 
conceive the hope of degrading us in our own 
eyes. It has been reserved for the younger 
branch to call artifice to its aid — to glorify the 
dead Napoleon, and to traduce, to proscribe his 
mother, his sisters, his nephews, fifty or sixty 
French people, charged with the crime of bear- 
ing his name. 



1843.] Last Days and Death. 385 



Letter of Thanks from Joseph. 



" Were Napoleon living to-day, he would 
think as we do. He would recognize in France 
no other sovereign than the French people, 
who alone have the right- to establish such a 
form of Government as to them may seem best 
for their interests. The too long dictatorship 
of Napoleon was prolonged by the persistence 
of the enemies of the Revolution, who endeav- 
ored to destroy in him the principle of nation- 
al sov'ereignty from which he emanated. 

" At a general peace, universal suffrage, lib- 
erty of the press, and all the guaranties for 
the perpetual prosperity of a great nation, 
which were in the plans of Napoleon, would 
have been unveiled before entire France, and 
would have made him the greatest man in his- 
tory. His whole thoughts were made known 
to me. It is my duty loudly to proclaim them. 
He sacrificed himself twice, that he might save 
France from civil war. The heirs of his name 
would renounce forever the happiness of breath- 
ing the air of their native country, did they 
think that their presence would inflict upon it 
the least injury. Such are the principles, the 
opinions, the sentiments of all the members of 
the family of Napoleon, of which I am here the 
interpreter. Every thing for and hy the peopled 

25 



386 Joseph Bonaparte. [1844. 



Sickness and Death. 



In the few remaining years of his life, 
nursed by the tender care of his wife Julie, 
who was to him an angel of consolation, Jo- 
seph remained in Elorence, his mind entirely 
engrossed with the misfortunes of his family. 
He had become fully reconciled to his nephew, 
and keenly sympathized with him in his cap- 
tivity at Ham. The glaring inconsistency of 
the Government of Louis Philippe in persisting 
to banish from France the relatives of a man 
whom all France almost adored, simply because 
they were that great man's relatives, often 
roused his indignation, 

T.he thought that he was an exile from 
his native land — from France, which he .had 
served so faithfully, and loved so well — embit- 
tered his last hours. Supported by the devo- 
tion of Julie, and by the presence of his broth- 
ers, Louis and Jerome, to both of whom he 
was tenderly attached, he awaited without re- 
gret the approach of death. 

On the 23d of July, 1844, Joseph breathed 
his last at Florence, at the age of sixty-six 
years. He left his fortune, which was not very 
large, to his eight grandchildreUo He also re- 
quested that his remains should be deposited 
in Florence until the hour should come when 



1844:.] Last Days and Death. 387 

Character of Joseph. 

thej could be removed to the soil of his beloved 
France. Queen Julie survived him but a few 
months. Her remains were deposited by the 
side of those of her husband, and of her second 
daughter, the Princess Charlotte, who died in 
1839. 

Joseph was eminently calculated to embel- 
lish society and to adorn the arts of peace. 
His literary attainments were very extensive, 
and in the Tribune he was eminent, both as an 
orator and a ready debater. Familiar with all 
the choicest passages of the classic writers of 
France and Italy, and thoroughly read in all 
the branches of political economy, with great 
affability of manners and spotless purity of 
character, he would have been a man of dis- 
tinction in any country and in any age. To 
say that he was not equal to his brother Napo- 
leon is no reproach, for Napoleon has never 
probably, in all respects, had his equal. But 
Joseph filled with distinguished honor all the 
varied positions of his eventful life. As a leg- 
islator, an ambassador, a general, a monarch, 
and a private citizen, he was alike eminent. 

From the commencement of his career until 
his last breath, he was devoted to those princi- 
ples of popular rights to which the French 



388 Joseph Bonapaete. [184:4. 

Character of Joseph. 

Ee volution gave birth, and which his more il- 
lustrious brother so long and so gloriously up- 
held against the combined dynasties of Europe. 
This sublime struggle of the people throughout 
Europe, under the banners of Napoleon, against 
the old regime of aristocratic oppression, pro- 
foundly moved the soul of Joseph. The hon- 
ors he received, the flattery at times lavished 
upon him, did not corrupt his heart. " Under 
the purple," says Napoleon III., " as under the 
cloak of exile, Joseph ever remained the same; 
the determined opponent of all oppression, of 
all privilege, of every abuse, and the earnest 
advocate of equal rights and of popular lib- 
erty." 

In his last days, Joseph, whose conversa- 
tional powers were remarkable, loved to recall 
the scenes of his memorable career. With the 
most touching simplicity, and with a charm of 
quiet eloquence which moved all hearts, he 
held in breathless interest those who were 
grouped around him. With pleasure he al- 
luded to the comparatively humble origin of 
his family, which had counted among the mem- 
bers so many kings. He was fond of relating 
anecdotes of the brother of whom he was so 
proud, and whom he so tenderly loved. One 



1844.] Last Days and Death. 389 

Character of Joseph. 

of these characteristic anecdotes was as fol- 
lows : 

"Joseph," said the Emperor to me one day, 

"T ^ has infinite ability, has he not? 

Well, do you know why he has never accom- 
plished any thing great ? It is because grand 

thoughts come only from the heart, and T 

has no heart." 

Though Joseph was a man of extraordinary 
gentleness of character and sweetness of dispo- 
sition, the cruel treatment of his brother at 
Saint Helena he could never allude to without 
intense emotion. In speaking of the destitu- 
tion of the Emperor in the hovel on that dis- 
tant rock, his eyes would fill with tears, and his 
voice would tremble under the vehemence of 
his feelings. 

The course pursued by the Government of 
Louis Philippe, the -whole internal and exter- 
nal policy of that unhappy monarch, arresting 
the progress of popular rights at home and de- 
grading France abroad, and especially its gross 
inconsistency in lavishing honors upon the 
memory of Napoleon, and yet persisting in ban- 
ishing his descendants, roused his indignation. 

We can not conclude this brief sketch more 

' Talleyrand. 



890 Joseph Bonaparte. [1844. 



Character of Joseph. 



appropriately than in the words of Louis Na- 
poleon, written when he was a captive at Ham, 
and when his uncle Joseph had just died in ex- 
ile at Florence. 

" If there existed to-day among us a man 
who, as a deputy, a diplomatist, a king, a citizen, 
or a soldier, was invariably distinguished for 
his patriotism and his brilliant qualities ; if that 
man had rendered himself illustrious by his 
oratorical triumphs, and by the advantageous 
treaties he had concluded for the interests of 
France; if that man had refused a crown be- 
cause the conditions which it imposed upon 
him wounded his conscience ; if that man had 
conquered a realm, gained battles, "and had ex- 
hibited upon two thrones the light of French 
ideas ; if, in fine, in good as in bad fortune, he 
had always remained faithful to his oaths, to 
his country, to his friends ; that man, we may 
say, would occupy the highest position in pub- 
lic esteem, statues would be raised to him, and 
civic crowns would adorn his whitened locks. 

*' Well ! this man lately existed, with all 
these glories, with all these honorable antece- 
dents. Nevertheless upon his brow we see 
only the imprint of misfortune. His country 
has requited his noble services by an exile of 



^. \Jb R D - 8 9. 



1844.] Last Days and Death. 891 

Character of Joseph. 

twenty-nine years. We deplore this, without 
being astonished at it. There are but two par- 
ties in France ; the vanquished and the van- 
quishers at Waterloo. The vanquishers are in 
power, and all that is national is crushed beneath 
the weight of defeat." 

These words were written in the year 1844. 
The Empire is now restored. The decree of 
exile against the Bonaparte family is annulled. 
The heir of the Emperor sits upon the throne, 
recognized by all the nations in the Old World 
and the ISTew. The time has come when the 
character of Joseph Bonaparte can be, and will 
be justly appreciated. 



THE END, 








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